Chapter 14 - The Fall of an Empire
Arthur’s eyes darted to the intercom. The color completely drained from his face, leaving him looking like a ghost.
Through the open French doors, a deafening silence fell over the patio. The guest speaker had stopped talking. The reporters were frozen.
Then, the murmurs began. They erupted into a chaotic frenzy of shouting journalists.
“Did he just confess to murder?” “Get a camera on the study window!” “Call the police!”
Arthur lunged for the intercom, tearing the wires out of the wall, but it was too late. His full, unedited confession had just been broadcast live to every major news network in the country.
"You stupid bitch!" Arthur roared, grabbing the crystal decanter and hurling it at my head. It shattered against the wall behind me. "Miller, shoot her! Shoot her right now!"
But Miller was backing away, his gun lowered. The corrupt cop realized instantly that the entire world had just heard Arthur admit to murder and framing me. He wasn't going down with a sinking ship.
"I'm out," Miller said, dropping his weapon and sprinting out the study door.
"Coward!" Arthur screamed. He turned toward me, his eyes wild with a feral, murderous rage. He pulled a small, silver revolver from his desk drawer and aimed it at me. "If I'm going to prison, you're dying right now."
Before he could pull the trigger, the French doors burst open in an explosion of shattered glass. Marcus hurled himself into the room, tackling Arthur to the ground. The gun went off, the bullet burying itself into the ceiling.
I scrambled forward, grabbing the heavy iron fireplace poker. As Arthur violently threw Marcus off him and raised the gun again, I swung the iron bar with all my strength, striking his wrist.
The gun clattered to the floor. Arthur collapsed, clutching his shattered arm and screaming in agony.
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Suddenly, the room was swarming with FBI agents in tactical gear. They bypassed local precinct completely, alerted by Marcus the moment he realized my phone had been crushed.
"Arthur Vance! Don't move!" an agent roared, pinning the billionaire to the floor.
