Three hours before my wedding, I went home for my late father’s watch.

I didn't wait for Daniel to answer.

I tapped a single key on my laptop. The large presentation screen on the wall flickered, switching from the photos of Daniel's briefcase to a live, encrypted video stream from the Boston Federal Prosecutor’s Office.

Sitting on the screen was Assistant District Attorney Marcus Vance, alongside four senior agents from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Miller," ADA Vance said, his voice booming clearly through the office speakers. "Or should I address you as Daniel Sterling?"

Daniel’s knees literally buckled. He grabbed the edge of the mahogany desk to keep from falling over. "W-What?"

"For the past six months," ADA Vance explained coldly, "the federal grand jury has been reviewing a massive financial dossier provided by the late Thomas Reed and Mr. Arthur Pendelton. That dossier outlines twelve years of corporate espionage, wire fraud, and offshore tax evasion conducted by Sterling Maritime and its shell subsidiary, Vanguard Global."

Evelyn let out a high-pitched, pathetic whimpering sound, clutching her pearls. "Daniel... Daniel, what is happening?!"

"Shut up, Mom!" Daniel roared, sweat pouring down his forehead, soaking his high suit collar. He glared at me with pure hatred. "This is a bluff! You can't touch Vanguard Global! The shell accounts are registered in the Cayman Islands!"

"They were registered in the Caymans," Arthur Pendelton interjected smoothly, stepping forward from the window. "Until two hours ago, when Ms. Reed executed the Harbor Protocol clause inside her father’s trust. That protocol automatically released the encrypted banking keys to federal authorities the moment an unauthorized proxy attempt was detected on this property."

DING.

The executive elevator doors opened behind them.

Three federal marshals dressed in dark suits, accompanied by two Boston Police officers, stepped into the suite.

"Daniel Sterling, Evelyn Miller," the lead marshal announced, pulling two pair of steel handcuffs from his belt. "You are under arrest for federal wire fraud, corporate espionage, attempted grand larceny, and conspiracy."

"No! Get your hands off me!" Evelyn screamed as an officer grabbed her wrists, pulling her arms behind her emerald dress. "Do you know who I am?! I am an investor! I had nothing to do with this! It was Daniel! It was all Daniel!"

"Mom! You crazy old hag!" Daniel screamed back, turning on his own mother in a frantic, sickening display of self-preservation. "She forced me to do it! She set up the Vanguard accounts! Check her bank records!"

I watched them squirm, fight, and claw at each other like rats in a drowning cage. Their toxic, artificial alliance disintegrated into pathetic finger-pointing within seconds.

The officers snapped the cold metal cuffs tightly around Daniel’s wrists.

As the marshals dragged Daniel toward the elevator, he stopped, twisting his head around, his eyes wild and bloodshot as he looked at me behind my father's desk.

"Claire! Please!" Daniel sobbed, tears cutting dirty tracks through the sweat on his face. "I loved you! I really loved you! Don't let them do this to me! We can work this out! Please!"

I picked up my father’s silver pocket watch, feeling the smooth, heavy weight of the metal against my palm.

"You never loved me, Daniel," I said, my voice quiet, steady, and razor-sharp. "You loved my father’s empire. But you forgot one thing."

I looked him dead in the eye.