Chapter 6 - THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF VALE
The seventy-two hours of arrogant legal maneuvers the family had attempted dissolved into a pathetic, high-pitched wail of pure terror.
As the federal marshals closed in on the platform, the heavy metallic click of the steel restraints closing around Claire’s wrists was the most satisfying sound I had ever heard.
"You can't do this to me!" Claire screamed, her body shaking violently as she was forced down onto her knees on the polished floorboard, her diamonds clinking loudly against the wood.
"I am your daughter, and that old navy relic doesn't deserve a single dollar of our family's wealth!"
"The unedited video from Mrs. Alvarez's phone says otherwise, Claire," I said, stepping onto the platform and looking down at her with dead, unyielding eyes.
The massive projector screens behind the judge's podium instantly illuminated, displaying the high-definition footage of the assault.
The entire gallery watched in breathless, paralyzed horror as the recording played on a continuous loop, showing the exact moment Derek violently smashed my head against the tile.
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They watched Claire standing in the kitchen, calmly adjusting her bracelet while her husband repeatedly kicked her weeping mother in the ribs.
"Derek Vale, you are officially under arrest for corporate conspiracy, domestic chemical abuse, and criminal accessory to attempted murder," the lead marshal announced, locking the steel constraints around his wrists as his family’s empire permanently collapsed into the dust.
