Chapter 9 - The Fall of the Empire
The raid on Sterling Industries was the biggest news story of the decade.
Federal agents swarmed the glass skyscraper, carrying out boxes of evidence. The stock hit absolute zero.
Chloe was indicted for grand larceny and wire fraud, weeping as she was loaded into a police cruiser in her designer clothes.
My mother, Eleanor, tried to use her social connections to flee the country, but her passports had been flagged and revoked. She was arrested at JFK airport, screaming at the TSA agents, her carefully crafted image utterly destroyed.
Arthur was denied bail. He faced charges of treason, conspiracy to commit murder, and international arms trafficking. He would never see the outside of a supermax prison again.
I stood across the street from the Sterling building, holding a hot cup of coffee, watching the empire burn to the ground. The legacy they had tried to protect at the cost of my life and the lives of my soldiers was completely eradicated.
General Vance stepped up beside me, watching the flashing red and blue lights.
May you like
"It's done," he said quietly. "Are you okay, Elara?"
I took a deep breath of the cold city air. "For the first time in a long time, General... yes."
