Chapter 6 - The Investigation
The newspaper hit the stands the next morning,
And the city of Boston erupted.
The headline screamed in bold,
Black letters:
"WINTHROP CORRUPTION EXPOSED."
Below it,
The details of the scandal were laid bare for everyone to see.
The embezzlement,
The insider trading,
The bribery of local officials.
It was all there.
The Winthrop Estate became a fortress,
Surrounded by media vans and protestors.
Charles was holed up in his office,
Listening to the chaos outside.
His phone was blowing up.
He was being subpoenaed,
Questioned,
And investigated.
He was losing everything.
He had to find the source.
He had to find out who had leaked the documents.
His private investigator walked into his office,
Looking grim.
"I found him,"
The PI said,
Setting a folder on the desk.
"Julian Vance."
Charles opened the folder,
His hands trembling.
He looked at the photos.
Julian,
Leaving a building downtown.
Julian,
Meeting with the journalist.
Julian,
Living a life that no scholarship student could afford.
"It was him,"
Charles whispered,
A rage building in his chest that he had never felt before.
"He did this.
He destroyed us."
"There’s more,"
The PI said,
His voice low.
"He’s not just a student.
He’s an investor.
A major one.
He owns shell companies that have been shorting your stock for months.
He hasn't just exposed you,
Charles.
He’s profited from your destruction."
Charles threw the folder across the room,
Screaming in fury.
He had been played.
He had been outsmarted by a boy he had looked down upon.
He had been blinded by his own arrogance.
He picked up his phone and dialed his father.
"Dad,
We need to destroy him.
I don't care how,
I don't care what it costs.
We need to bury Julian Vance."
"I'm ahead of you,"
His father said,
His voice cold and calculating.
"I have friends in high places.
We'll frame him.
We'll make it look like he was the one behind the embezzlement.
We'll destroy his reputation,
His career,
Everything."
Charles hung up,
A sinister smile spreading across his face.
They would play dirty.
They would play for keeps.
They would make Julian suffer.
But they didn't know the monster they were waking up.
Julian was prepared for this.
He had anticipated every move,
Every threat,
Every lie.
He was the architect,
And he had built his house of cards on a foundation of solid,
Indisputable truth.
And as the sun set over Boston,
The trap was set.
The Winthrops were running into the fire,
May you like
And Julian was waiting,
Ready to light the match.
