Chapter 5 - The Corporate Execution
The collapse of the Collins family was total, rapid, and public.
By the next morning, the media had caught wind of the arrest. Headliners across Colorado screamed: PROMINENT COLLINS REAL ESTATE EMPIRE EXPOSED IN HORRIFIC COVER-UP OF PREGNANT DAUGHTER'S ASSAULT.
Because my father's real estate firm, Collins Realty, relied entirely on commercial credit lines and municipal contracts that I had quietly structured for him over the years, the corporate fallout was instantaneous.
I sat in my hospital bed, Nathan’s hand gripped tightly in mine. His wrists were bruised from the handcuffs, but his eyes were filled with nothing but tears of relief as he leaned over to kiss my forehead.
"They're gone, Emily," Nathan whispered. "Arthur just called. The bank has officially pulled the liquidity lines for Collins Realty. The municipal board has canceled all their commercial development permits. They are bankrupt as of noon."
"That’s just the beginning, Nathan," I said, my voice steady, though my heart was still breaking for the baby we would never hold. "They wanted to protect Megan's future. They thought my life was a fair price to pay to keep her from facing consequences. Now, she’s going to face them in front of the entire country."
At 2:00 PM, a team of forensic accountants and state investigators, backed by my firm's legal task force, marched into the Collins Realty headquarters. They seized every server, every hard drive, and every financial ledger.
For twenty years, my father had been skimming money from the corporate tax filings, using a series of shell companies to fund Megan’s lavish lifestyle and pay off her previous "accidents." I had known about it for years, but had kept the files locked away in my private safe, hoping against hope that one day my family would love me enough for me to destroy the evidence.
May you like
I was done hoping.
The files were delivered directly to the IRS and the District Attorney’s office.
