Chapter 5 - The Paper Trail
By noon, the federal regulatory authorities and the district attorney's financial crimes unit had established a command center inside the Helios Dynamics executive suite.
The forensic audit revealed a staggering pattern of corporate embezzlement and tax evasion orchestrated by Dominic and Genevieve's CFO. Over four years, Dominic had systematically routed seventeen million dollars through shell LLCs in Nevada, using company funds to finance private jets, luxury penthouses, and personal offshore trading accounts.
Genevieve sat in her glass office with her high-priced defense lawyers, weeping in fury as process servers handed her subpoenas for grand jury testimony.
Dominic was escorted to his office under armed guard to collect his personal effects. When he walked out carrying a single cardboard box, he found me standing by the panoramic window overlooking the city skyline.
"Beatrice... please," Dominic pleaded, his voice cracking with desperation. "We were married for six years. You loved me. Think about our history. If I go to prison, everything we built will be destroyed."
"You destroyed it the moment you decided that greed was worth more than honor, Dominic," I said without looking at him. "You didn't want a wife. You wanted a stepping stone."
"I'll sign everything over to you!" he begged, dropping the box onto the carpet. "I'll give up all my shares! Just withdraw the fraud complaint with the SEC!"
"The SEC didn't act on a personal complaint, Dominic," Fiona intervened from the doorway. "They acted on federal banking alerts that were automatically triggered when your offshore accounts were frozen. The law is out of our hands."
Two federal marshals stepped onto the floor, flashing their badges.
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"Dominic Vance, you are under arrest pursuant to a federal warrant for grand larceny, securities fraud, and aggravated money laundering."
As the steel handcuffs clicked around his wrists, Dominic turned back to look at me one last time. But I had already turned my back to him, looking out over the city that my father had helped build.
