Chapter 4 - The Reign of the Judge
Nolan froze.
The color drained from his face so fast it looked as if he had been drained of blood. His hands, which had been holding Cassidy’s waist, slowly dropped to his sides.
"Arthur..." Nolan stammered, his voice losing its booming authority, replaced by a pathetic, squeaking pitch. "Arthur, you... you don't understand. Mara had an episode. She fell down the stairs, and then she attacked Cassidy—"
"Silence," Arthur commanded.
He didn't raise his voice. He didn't need to. The sheer gravitas of a man who had presided over the highest courts in the state filled the courtyard like cold iron.
Arthur stepped past Nolan as if he were nothing more than a stain on the floor. He dropped to one knee beside me, his heavy hand coming to rest gently on my uninjured shoulder. His cold blue eyes softened, a profound, agonizing warmth flashing across his face.
"I'm here, Mara," he whispered, his voice trembling slightly. "Papa's here."
"Dad..." Tears finally overflowed my eyes, hot and scalding against my bruised cheeks. "Sadie... she's tied to the pillar..."
Arthur’s jaw set into stone. He looked over his shoulder at one of the men in navy suits.
"Agent Miller. Untie my granddaughter. Now."
The lead agent, a broad-shouldered man with a crew cut, stepped instantly toward the oak pillar. He produced a tactical folding knife from his pocket, flicked it open, and with one swift motion, sliced through the braided velvet rope that bound Sadie’s ankles to the wood.
Sadie let out a sob, running straight past the guests, her tiny patent-leather shoes slapping against the stone.
"Grandpa! Mommy!" she cried, throwing herself into Arthur’s arms.
Arthur gathered the little girl up, holding her tightly against his shoulder, stroking her hair while keeping his body positioned between us and Nolan.
"Is Mommy broken again?" Sadie sobbed into Arthur’s neck.
"No, sweetheart," Arthur murmured, looking down at my shattered prosthetic. "Mommy is just fine. But some bad people are about to have a very bad day."
Nolan tried to regain his footing, taking a cautious step forward, attempting to smooth down his silk tie. "Arthur, please. This is a private family matter. Mara is unstable. She’s been off her medication—"
"My daughter has been off all pain medication for twenty-four months, Nolan," Arthur said, standing up slowly, handing Sadie to Agent Miller. "I know this because I personally review her medical charts every three weeks through her orthopedic surgeon at Johns Hopkins."
Arthur turned to face Nolan fully.
"I also know that six months ago, you forged Mara’s signature on an irrevocable power of attorney document to liquidate her mother’s three-million-dollar educational trust fund."
The entire courtyard went so silent you could hear the wind rustling the rose bushes outside.
Nolan gasped, his eyes darting frantically toward his board members standing near the champagne tower. "That's... that's a lie! I invested those funds for our family's future!"
"You transferred those funds to an offshore account in the Cayman Islands under the name 'C&N Holdings,'" Arthur stated flatly, pulling a thick white envelope from his inner jacket pocket. "A company registered jointly to you and Miss Cassidy Vance."
Cassidy let out a tiny gasp, backing away from Nolan, her hands shaking violently. "Nolan... what is he talking about?"
"Shut up, Cassidy!" Nolan hissed under his breath.
"And as for your little performance today," Arthur continued, stepping closer to Nolan until the silver tip of his cane was pressed firmly against the center of Nolan’s chest. "Did you really think I would let my daughter enter a house you rented without monitoring the security feeds?"
Arthur raised his hand, signaling to the second agent standing by the entrance.
The agent held up a high-definition tablet, pressing play on a video file, and connected it to the estate’s outdoor digital display screens—the ones set up to show a slideshow of Sadie’s baby photos.
Instantly, the four massive screens around the courtyard flickered to life.
High-definition video played from three separate angles.
The screens clearly showed Cassidy tying the velvet rope around Sadie’s legs five minutes before the announcement.
The screens clearly showed Cassidy stepping up behind me on the staircase.
And the screens clearly showed Cassidy’s stiletto heel deliberately hooking my prosthetic foot, kicking the knee joint out, and shoving her shoulder into my side, sending me flying down twenty stone steps.
The guests gasped in absolute horror.
Eleanor Vance covered her mouth, staring at Cassidy with utter disgust. Two senior partners from Nolan’s firm turned their backs on him immediately, walking toward the exit.
"That's... that video is fabricated!" Nolan screamed, his face contorted in absolute panic. "It’s a frame-up!"
"It's 4K security footage recorded from the estate’s primary security grid, which my firm purchased through a receiver two days ago," Arthur said softly.
He leaned in close to Nolan’s pale, trembling face.
"You pushed my daughter down stone stairs. You tried to break what was left of her body so you could lock her in an asylum and take her child."
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Arthur lowered his cane, tapping it once against the marble floor.
"Agent Miller. Arrest them both."
