Chapter 10 - The Fall of the Vance Dynasty
Within minutes,
the tarmac was completely under federal control.
Tactical agents moved up the boarding stairs,
forcing Dr.
Cross and Victor Sterling down to the wet ground,
securing their wrists in heavy chrome handcuffs.
Sterling,
despite his millions and his international influence,
was shoved roughly against the side of his own luxury sedan,
his ebony cane clattering uselessly across the damp concrete.
"Do you have any idea who I am?"
Sterling snarled at Agent Henderson,
his soaked gray hair plastered against his forehead,
spitting rainwater from his lips.
"I hold diplomatic credentials from the principality of Monaco!
I have full consular immunity!
You cannot arrest me on an American tarmac without an international diplomatic incident!"
Assistant U.S.
Attorney Evelyn Ramos walked up to him,
unfolding a set of heavy parchment documents with bright red wax seals.
"Your consular credentials were officially revoked forty minutes ago by the State Department,
Mr.
Sterling,"
Ramos replied with a cold,
satisfied smile.
"When international child trafficking and biological weapon charges are filed under Section 175 of the United States Code,
diplomatic immunity does not apply.
You are under federal arrest for conspiracy to commit biological trafficking,
attempted second-degree murder,
wire fraud,
and interstate kidnapping.
You won't be flying to Geneva tonight,
Victor.
You'll be spending the night in the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles."
Sterling closed his eyes,
his shoulders slumping,
the arrogant posture of a billionaire vanishing in an instant,
leaving behind only a broken,
frightened old man facing the consequences of his greed.
A few yards away,
Ryan Vance was pinned to the wet pavement by two tactical agents,
his face pressed into the dirty oil and rainwater of the runway.
Beside him,
Beatrice was wailing at the top of her lungs,
fighting against the female agent who was snapping steel cuffs around her manicured wrists.
"You can't do this to me!"
Beatrice shrieked,
her mascara running in dark streaks down her wrinkled cheeks.
"I am Beatrice Vance!
My husband built this city!
Ryan,
call our attorneys!
Call Senator Miller!
Tell them we are being assaulted by these animals!"
"Senator Miller isn't answering your calls,
Beatrice,"
my father said,
stepping into the light,
looking down at the woman who had terrorized his daughter for four years.
"Miller’s office was notified of your offshore shell companies an hour ago.
Nobody is coming to save you."
I walked forward,
stepping slowly through the puddles,
the rain drenching my hair and coat,
until I stood directly above my husband.
The agents pulled Ryan to his knees,
holding him by the shoulders so he had no choice but to look up at me.
His tuxedo was ruined,
his hair was plastered across his eyes,
and his lips were trembling with pathetic,
miserable desperation.
"Mariana..."
he choked out,
tears mingling with the rain on his cheeks.
"Mariana,
please...
you have to tell them...
you have to tell them it was all a misunderstanding.
I did it for us!
I did it for our family!
The company was going bankrupt,
they were going to take the house,
they were going to take everything we had!
I was trying to protect our future!"
I looked at the man I had loved,
the man whose ring was still on my left hand,
and felt nothing.
No anger.
No sorrow.
Only a cold,
hollow finality that had settled deep into my soul.
"You didn't do this for us,
Ryan,"
I said,
my voice steady,
quiet,
and completely calm amidst the storm.
"You did this because you are an arrogant coward who couldn't bear the thought of losing your luxury cars,
your country club memberships,
and your mother's approval.
You sold our son's body to save your company."
"Mariana,
I'm his father!"
he sobbed,
trying to reach forward with his bound hands,
only to be shoved roughly back by the federal agents.
"You can't keep me away from my son!
A court will give me visitation!
I have rights!"
I reached down,
pulled the heavy diamond wedding band from my ring finger,
and let it drop into the oily puddle between his knees.
"You gave up your rights the second that needle entered his skin,"
I said,
looking down at him with pure disdain.
"Leo will grow up knowing your name,
Ryan.
He will know that his father was a criminal who traded his health for offshore blood money.
And every time you look at the ceiling of your federal prison cell for the next twenty-five years,
I want you to remember this moment."
Agent Henderson stepped forward,
taking Ryan by the collar of his ruined jacket,
hauling him roughly to his feet.
"Get them into the transport vans,"
Henderson ordered his team.
"Take Dr.
Cross and the cryo-case directly to the federal evidence repository under armed escort.
I want chain of custody locked down before dawn."
As they dragged Ryan away,
he kept screaming my name into the rain,
pleading for mercy,
begging for a second chance that would never come.
Beatrice was shoved into the adjacent van,
still screaming curses,
still threatening everyone in sight,
until the heavy steel doors slammed shut with a final,
echoing thud.
My father walked over to me,
putting his heavy,
protective arm around my shoulders,
pulling me close against the cold wind.
"It's over,
Mariana,"
Dad said gently.
"The immediate threat is over,"
May you like
I replied,
looking back toward the city where the morning sun was just beginning to cut through the mountain fog.
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