Page 137

The second two officers grab him, he practically folds in half, his mouth running faster than his brain, words spilling out in a frantic, desperate attempt to save himself.

"Wait, wait, wait, I'll tell you everything!" he gasps, hands shaking as they tighten the cuffs. "Vanessa… she–she set this whole thing up! I was just hired security! I didn't—" He sucks in a breath, his eyes darting to Vanessa, wild with panic. "She made me do it! She threatened me, too!"

Vanessa's expression twists into something venomous. "Shut up, Cliff."

But Cliff is too far gone to listen. He looks at the nearest officer, eyes wide, practically begging. "Look, I can prove it! She faked everything! The evidence, the financials, the offshore accounts—she made it all look like Carter Holdings was corrupt, but it was her! She buried money in his projects just so it would lead back to him."

Liam goes still beside me.

Cliff keeps going, his words tumbling over themselves, a man desperate to dig himself out of the hole he willingly jumped into.

"She's been laundering money for years, doctoring contracts, manipulating clients—hell, she even bribed a judge to get one of her fake lawsuits pushed through." He shakes his head frantically. "The whole thing—everything she did to Carter Holdings? The bad press? The investors pulling out? She orchestrated it all."

I glance at Liam, whose expression is carved from stone. His jaw is locked, his fists clenched, but his eyes… his eyes are burning with something cold, something sharp, something that looks an awful lot like vindication.

Vanessa, however, is still trying to claw her way out.

She scoffs, tilting her chin up, an almost amused smirk curling at her lips. "Oh, please. You're really going to take his word for it?" She jerks her chin toward Cliff, voice dripping with disdain. "The man who just admitted to taking dirty money? You think he's credible?"

An officer steps forward, his expression unreadable as he tilts his head at Cliff. "You willing to sign a sworn statement?"

Cliff nods so fast I think his neck might snap. "Yes. Yes. I have records, too. Copies of her transactions. A list of people she's blackmailed. She's been paying off journalists, planting fake reports, funneling money through shell companies under Liam's name."

I inhale sharply.

Liam doesn't move. Doesn't say a word.

Vanessa finally loses her smirk. "You shut your mouth or else?—"

"No, I'm done." Cliff looks agonized. "She threatened to rat me out to my family, said she'd hurt my kids. I didn't have a choice."

And neither did Andrew, until confronted by the law. The tide is finally turning.

One of the officers glances between them, then signals to a second officer, who immediately pulls out a tablet. "Let's get this on record."

Vanessa lunges.

Or, at least, she tries to.

She barely makes it an inch before the officers yank her back, pinning her arms, forcing her into submission.

"You ungrateful—" Her voice breaks, but she swallows it down, eyes flashing as she whips her head toward Cliff. "You think they'll cut you a deal? You think you'll walk away from this clean? You're just as guilty as I am!"

Cliff flinches, but the damage is done.

Vanessa's mask has cracked.

And she knows it.

One of the officers tightens the cuffs, speaking calmly. "Vanessa Chase, you're under arrest for fraud, conspiracy, blackmail, and a whole list of other things I'm sure your lawyers will cry about in the morning. You have the right to remain silent."

I tune out the rest.

Because Liam…

Liam exhales, just once, his shoulders slumping ever so slightly, his fists finally unclenching.

And before I even realize what I'm doing, I'm moving.