Chapter 10 - The Unseen Audit
The silence of the federal penitentiary visiting room was entirely different from the quiet elegance of the Lincoln Park ballroom. Here, the quiet was heavy, toxic, and suffocating.
Alexander Vance stared through the smudged plexiglass at the visitor sitting across from him. It wasn't his mother, nor was it a lawyer. It was Marcus Vance—no relation to the family, but the former head of security who had coordinated the police response on that fateful wedding night. Marcus now worked directly under Clara Sterling as the director of corporate intelligence and private security.
"What do you want, Marcus?" Alexander muttered, his voice hoarse, his fingers twitching against the orange fabric of his jumpsuit. "You locked me away. Isn't that enough?"
Marcus didn't blink. He calmly placed a single, crisp printed document against the glass on his side.
"The trial is over, Alexander, and the sentences are locked in," Marcus said, his voice flat and professional. "But a forensic audit doesn't end just because a judge drops a gavel. Clara wanted to make sure every single tentacle of your mother's financial syndicate was severed."
Alexander glanced down at the paper. It was a wire routing ledger dated two weeks before his wedding. His eyes widened slightly.
"That account... that was closed years ago," Alexander whispered.
"It was reactivated," Marcus corrected him smoothly. "And it wasn't just funding your wedding or paying off Chef Hector. Your mother used that specific offshore vehicle to skim over forty million dollars from Sterling Logistics supply chain contracts over the last five years. Contracts that you personally signed off on as vice president of operations."
Panic flared anew in Alexander's chest. "I didn't know about the skimming! Mom handled the backend accounting!"
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"Ignorance isn't an exemption when you're the primary beneficiary of a multi-million-dollar money laundering ring," Marcus replied calmly. "The Department of Justice has already filed civil asset forfeiture motions. Every asset you ever owned—every car, every watch, every hidden trust fund—has been seized. You are legally, completely, and utterly bankrupt."
Marcus stood up, adjusting his jacket. "Clara wanted you to know one last thing before she closes your file forever. She doesn't hate you, Alexander. She simply doesn't think about you at all."
