Chapter 11 - The Web of Debt
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“Where did the money go, Marcus?” I asked, my voice shaking with rage. “Five hundred thousand dollars total between the two accounts! How does someone spend that much money in three years?”
Marcus flipped to the next page of the audit report.
“He didn't just spend it on houses and cars, Arthur,” Marcus revealed. “Victoria had massive, undisclosed gambling debts from offshore casinos before she even met Daniel. Over two hundred thousand dollars went directly to settling her personal debt collectors.”
I sank back into my leather chair, horrified.
“She targeted him,” I whispered as the truth dawned on me. “She saw a grieving, weak man with access to a massive inheritance, married him, and convinced him to steal from his own child to pay off her debts.”
“Exactly,” Marcus agreed. “And when the money started running out two months ago, they began arguing. Ethan overheard them. Victoria knew that if Ethan told you, the whole house of cards would collapse. So she started taking his phone, isolating him, and eventually tried to freeze him out in the snow to break his spirit.”
“I want them ruined, Marcus,” I said, my knuckles turning white as I clenched my fists. “I don't care that he’s my son. I want every single penny restored to Ethan, and I want Victoria behind bars for the rest of her natural life.”
Marcus smiled grimly.
“Given the charges—forgery, grand larceny, identity theft, child endangerment, and wire fraud—they are looking at fifteen to twenty years in state prison. The prosecutor is already preparing the indictment.”
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At that moment, Marcus’s office phone rang. He picked it up, listened for a few seconds, and his brow furrowed.
“Arthur,” Marcus said, hanging up the phone. “That was the police department. Victoria’s high-priced defense attorney just filed an emergency bail motion. And someone just posted her two hundred thousand dollar bond.”
