Chapter 14 - Judgment in the Ashes
Within seconds of their escape, blinding spotlights pierced through the rainstorm as a convoy of black SUVs, marked federal cruisers, and local fire engines swarmed the sweeping gravel driveway. Armed federal agents in tactical gear poured out, securing the perimeter with assault rifles drawn.
Genevieve, crawling through the thorned rosebushes near the outer iron gates, covered in mud and blood, was pinned to the earth by two federal officers. The cold steel of handcuffs clicked tightly around her wrists. “Get off me!” she screamed, writhing in the mud. “I am the mistress of this estate! I demand my lawyer!”
“Genevieve Cross, also known as Genevieve Moreau,” a senior federal agent announced loudly over the rain, holding up a federal arrest warrant. “You are under arrest for federal kidnapping, conspiracy to commit murder, bank fraud, and interstate extortion. You have the right to remain silent.” Genevieve’s screams were swallowed by the wail of the fire engine sirens as she was shoved into the back of a police cruiser, her reign of terror permanently extinguished.
Paramedics rushed across the lawn toward Clara, wrapping her, Caleb, and Chloe in heavy thermal blankets and administering oxygen. As a young female paramedic gently checked Chloe’s vitals, Clara refused to let go of Caleb’s hand. Her grip was tight, warm, and real.
Through the blazing ruins, firefighters dragged Arthur Vance’s burned, coughing form from the edge of the collapsed terrace. He was alive, but his aristocratic arrogance was utterly destroyed. His face was blackened, his expensive clothes reduced to rags, his body trembling in shock as federal agents immediately stepped forward to place heavy iron shackles around his wrists and ankles.
May you like
As Arthur was wheeled past his family on a gurney, he raised his bloodshot eyes toward Clara. “Clara... forgive me... it was for the legacy... it was all for the family...”
Clara stood tall, wrapped in the gold emergency blanket, her violet eyes gleaming with cold, absolute finality. “There is no Montgomery-Vance legacy anymore, Arthur. My children and I are Montgomerys. You are just a criminal going to a federal penitentiary for the rest of your natural life.”
