Chapter 9 - The Price of Treason
ictor scrambled to grab the check from the coffin, his fingers clawing at the paper in a
desperate, last-ditch effort to save his prize. “This is a setup! The check is mine! We signed
the contract!”
But before his hand could touch the leather folder, Adrian Cross stepped between them, his steel
eyes cold and merciless. “The contract is null and void, Victor. The moment you signed that document,
you committed federal insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit murder, and attempted filicid. And you
did it all in front of a hundred witnesses, dozens of live cameras, and the federal investigators sitting
in the front row.”
The doors at the side of the altar opened, and a dozen armed federal agents in tactical gear
poured into the sanctuary, their weapons raised. Special Agent Marcus Carter stepped forward,
holding a pair of heavy steel handcuffs. “Victor Hale, you are under arrest for attempted murder,
federal insurance fraud, and grand larceny. Hands behind your back. Now.”
Victor screamed, thrashing wildly as the agents grabbed his arms, forcing him to his knees on the
cold marble floor. His expensive suit was rumpled, his hair messy, his arrogant pride completely
The Ice and the Altar 7
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shattered. Beside him, Serena was also cuffed, her screams of panic echoing off the stained-glass
windows as she was dragged away. The media captured every second of their public humiliation, the
photos of the 'grieving widow' in handcuffs instantly flashing across every news outlet in the nation.
I stood at the altar, holding my belly, watching as they were dragged out of the cathedral into the
freezing winter air. I felt a profound, overwhelming sense of peace settle over my heart. The debt had
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been paid. The ice had been broken. And my son and I were finally free.
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