Chapter 32 - The Confession and the Fall
Within twenty minutes, Alistair Vance and his two hired mercenaries were sitting inside the secure basement workshop of Ashby & Co., surrounded by syndicate guards. Karen stood by her cutting table, looking down at Alistair with cold, unwavering composure.
"You really thought you could destroy everything I built just to salvage your fragile ego," Karen said quietly.
Alistair sneered, blood trickling from a minor scratch on his cheek. "You're nothing, Ashby. A back-alley seamstress playing dress-up in a dying town. When I get out—"
"You aren't getting out," Ambrose interrupted, sliding a digital recorder onto the cutting table and pressing play.
The tiny speaker instantly broadcast Alistair’s unmistakable voice giving explicit instructions to the mercenaries: "Steal the ledgers, burn the shop to the ground, and make sure she doesn't walk out."
Alistair’s face drained of all color. The bravado vanished instantly, leaving him looking suddenly old, brittle, and terrified.
"That audio, combined with the signed witness affidavits from your hired thugs and the wire transfer receipts from your personal offshore account, will ensure you spend the next twenty years in a federal penitentiary," Ambrose stated calmly.
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Karen walked slowly around the table, stopping just inches from Alistair. "In Marrow Hill, we don't steal what others build. We protect what we earn. Take him away."
Federal marshals, alerted by Ambrose's secure channel, arrived at the shop within minutes, taking Alistair into custody under blinding camera flashes from reporters who had miraculously been tipped off about the midnight raid. The titan of Vanguard Global was officially finished.
