Chapter 1 - The Digital Execution
"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen."
My voice boomed across the silent courtyard.
The microphone picked up every single breath I took.
I didn't break eye contact with my father.
His face had turned the color of wet ash.
"My name is Sarah Sterling, and I am standing here today as a proud graduate."
"But I am also standing here as a survivor of twenty-three years of financial and emotional fraud."
I reached over to the podium's multimedia console.
The commencement staff always left the AV cables accessible for guest speakers.
I plugged my silver USB drive directly into the main system port.
A giant digital projector sat behind me, intended for displaying the university logo.
"My father, Arthur Sterling, just accused me of stealing my way to a degree."
"He claimed I blackmailed my professors and plagiarized my work."
"He did this in front of six hundred people to ruin my credibility."
"He needed you to believe I was a liar."
"Because if you believe I am a liar, you will never believe what I am about to show you."
I tapped the screen on the podium.
The massive projector screen behind me flickered to life.
A collective gasp echoed across the quad as a massive PDF document appeared.
It was a bank statement.
But it wasn't just any bank statement.
It was a heavily redacted offshore account file carrying the Sterling corporate logo.
"For the past four years, my father hasn't just been running a successful company."
"He has been systematically embezzling millions of dollars from his own shareholders."
"And he didn't do it under his own name."
My father suddenly lunged forward.
"Turn that off right now!" he bellowed.
But campus security had already stepped directly into his path.
May you like
They weren't looking at me anymore.
They were staring up at the massive screen with wide eyes.
