Part 3: The Destruction of the Alliance
Harrison didn't call the hospital security.
He didn't need to.
He simply walked over to the door, opening it wide to reveal two federal investigators waiting in the corridor.
They weren't wearing wedding attire.
They were wearing dark blue windbreakers with the initials SEC printed boldly across the back.
— Adrian Carter? the lead investigator asked, stepping into the room with a set of steel restraints. You are under arrest for corporate fraud, grand larceny, and embezzlement of federal grant funds.
Vanessa let out a high-pitched shriek, throwing her bouquet of white roses into the hospital trash can as she tried to run past them.
— I didn't do anything! she screamed, her veil catching on the door frame and ripping off her head completely. It was all him! He made me copy the server drives!
— Miss Vanessa, the second investigator said, blocking her exit with a heavy arm. You are named as a co-conspirator on the federal warrant. You’re coming with us too.
Adrian looked back at me one last time as the investigators forced his hands behind his back.
The arrogance that had defined him for thirty-five years was completely gone, replaced by the hollow, broken gaze of a man who had realized too late that he had played a game he could never win.
— Emma... please, he croaked, his voice breaking as the steel cuffs clicked around his wrists. Think of our daughter. She needs a father. Don't let them do this to me.
I looked down at the tiny girl sleeping peacefully against my chest, her breathing a steady, beautiful rhythm.
— She has a family, Adrian, I said softly. She has me. And she has the empire you built on lies.
As the guards dragged them down the hallway, their shouts fading against the quiet hum of the hospital’s internal medicine wing, Harrison closed the door.
He walked over to the window, watching the police cruisers pull up to the curb below, their red and blue lights flashing against the wet asphalt of Brooklyn.
— The cathedral is empty, Harrison murmured, a faint, dark smile touching his lips. The senator just pulled his endorsement. The Carter name is completely radioactive by sunset.
I let out a long, deep breath I felt like I had been holding for three long years.
The man who had tried to convince the world I was unstable, the man who had left me with nothing but a broken heart and a stack of legal bills, was finally sitting in the dark.
— What happens now, Harrison? I asked, looking at the leather folder.
May you like
Harrison walked back to my side, his hand resting gently on the edge of my mattress.
— Now, Emma, you rest, he said, his eyes filled with a quiet, protective heat. Because tomorrow morning, you take your seat at the head of the boardroom.
