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Within forty minutes, two black sedans pulled up outside the East Ridge apartment complex. Matteo stepped out, flanked by Marcus. Liana met them in the courtyard, her expression resolute.

"Are you sure about this, Liana?" Matteo asked, looking up at the dilapidated brick facade. "We can let Arthur handle this legally."

"No," Liana said firmly. "I want to look him in the eye."

They walked up to the manager's basement office. Mr. Henderson, a heavy-set man in his late fifties with thinning hair and a stained shirt, was sitting at a metal desk counting rent checks. When the door slammed open and Matteo Varric walked in, Henderson jumped, dropping his pen.

"What's the meaning of this?" Henderson yelled, his eyes darting around the room. "You can't just barge in here!"

Then his eyes fell on Liana, standing beside the imposing mafia boss. All the color drained from Henderson's face.

"Hello, Mr. Henderson," Liana said smoothly, stepping into the room. "I believe you owe me an explanation about the four-hundred-dollar rent hike back in November."

Henderson swallowed hard, sweating profusely. "I... market rates went up, Liana! You know how it is!"

Matteo didn't say a word. He simply walked over to the desk, grabbed a wooden chair, and set it down heavily in front of Henderson. He sat down, leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"Mr. Henderson," Matteo said in a low, gravelly tone that made the small room feel like a pressure cooker. "My legal team has full access to the bank records of Sterling Investments. We know that on November 15th, a cashier's check for fifty thousand dollars was deposited into an offshore account under your name."

Henderson began to tremble violently. "I didn't know what they were going to do! I swear I didn't know!"

"You took money from Julianna Varric to target a single mother," Liana said, her voice dropping into a register of cold fury. "You manufactured my debt so I would be vulnerable when my child got sick. You helped her steal my baby!"

"She told me she was doing a private adoption placement!" Henderson sobbed, putting his hands over his face. "She said you couldn't afford to raise the boy and that he’d go to a billionaire family! She gave me fifty grand just to increase your rent and report your daily schedule to her security team!"

"You sold a child's life for fifty thousand dollars," Matteo said softly.

He stood up, looking down at the groveling man with absolute disgust. He pulled out his phone and pressed a button. "Marcus, bring the police in."

Two uniformed officers, who had been waiting outside on Arthur Pendelton's orders, entered the office and placed Henderson in handcuffs.

"You're being charged as an accessory to conspiracy, kidnapping, and bribery," the officer stated, reading him his rights as they dragged him out into the rain.

Liana stood in the middle of the small office, looking at the empty desk. The final string of the trap had been untangled. The neighborhood secret was out, and every single person who had taken a dime to facilitate the theft of her son was now facing justice.