Chapter 10 - Arthur’s Final Play
The recess before the final sentencing gave Arthur Vance one last chance to salvage a sliver of his legacy. He cornered Julian in the mahogany-paneled hallway outside the courtroom.
"Julian," Arthur rasped, leaning heavily on a cane he had recently started using for sympathy. "Julian, please. I gave you your start. I brought you into this firm. You have your money back. You have the company. Tell the judge to show leniency. Sarah won't survive a federal prison."
Julian stopped, looking down at the man who had once been his mentor. "Arthur, you knew about the Delaware shell company. You hid the ledgers. You let her bleed the expansion fund dry."
"I was protecting my daughter!" Arthur hissed, tears welling in his eyes.
"No, Arthur. You were protecting your own unvested equity," Julian corrected him, his voice like ice. "My mother traced the final routing numbers on those ledgers. Sarah wasn't keeping all the money. She was funneling thirty percent of the embezzled funds into an offshore trust in the Cayman Islands. A trust with your name on it."
Arthur's face went slack. The blood rushed from his cheeks, leaving him looking like a corpse.
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"You didn't protect her. You profited off her," Julian whispered, stepping closer so only Arthur could hear. "You are just a parasite who got caught in the sun. If I were you, I would sit down, shut up, and pray the judge gives you a cell with a window."
Julian turned on his heel and walked back into the courtroom, leaving Arthur Vance to collapse against the hallway wall, utterly broken.
