Chapter 8 - The Fall of the Illusion
By midnight, I arrived at the central police precinct accompanied by Sarah Sterling and two corporate security officers.
Mom and Dad were already in the waiting room. Mom was screaming at the desk sergeant, demanding Vanessa’s immediate release, while Dad sat slumped on a wooden bench, staring blankly at the floor.
When Mom saw me walk through the automatic glass doors, she charged toward me like a wild animal.
"You setup your own sister!" she shrieked, reaching for my face.
Before she could get close, my corporate security guard stepped smoothly in front of her, extending an arm to block her path. "Stand back, ma'am."
"Claire! Tell them to let her go!" Mom sobbed, her makeup smeared across her face. "She's your sister! She just made a mistake! She was desperate!"
"She committed felony breaking and entering, attempted corporate sabotage, and industrial espionage," Sarah Sterling announced coldly, pulling a stack of formal paperwork from her briefcase. "The physical damage to the facility door alone is estimated at $12,000. The attempted destruction of proprietary assets is valued in excess of five million dollars."
Mom gasped, turning pale as she stumbled back into Dad's arms. "Five... five million?"
The doors to the holding area opened, and an officer led Vanessa out in handcuffs.
Her hair was a tangled mess, her designer clothes were wrinkled and stained, and her makeup was completely ruined by tears. The smug, arrogant girl who had torn up my offer letter at graduation was completely gone. In her place was someone small, broken, and terrified.
She looked at me, her lower lip trembling. "Claire... please... tell them it was a prank. Please... I can't go to jail. My career... my life..."
"You didn't care about my life when you tried to destroy everything I worked for," I said, my voice completely devoid of emotion. "You didn't care when you tore up my paper on stage, or when you lied to millions of people online, or when you snuck into my lab tonight to burn my work to the ground."
"I was jealous!" Vanessa sobbed uncontrollably, dropping to her knees on the precinct floor. "I was jealous of you! Everyone was looking at you! You were always the smart one, the successful one, and I felt like nothing! I just wanted you to feel small for once!"
"I never made you feel small, Vanessa," I said quietly, looking down at her. "You did that to yourself by measuring your worth against my existence."
Sarah Sterling stepped forward and handed the formal criminal charge documents to the arresting officer. "Meridian Dynamics will be pressing full charges. No bail agreements will be authorized without a formal court hearing."
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Vanessa shrieked as the officers pulled her back up and led her toward the holding cells. "Mom! Help me! Dad! Don't let them take me!"
Mom fell to her knees, weeping loudly, while Dad covered his face with his hands, finally realizing that the house of cards they had built on Vanessa's lies had completely collapsed.
