Alana: What do you mean, access denied?! Try it again!
Julian: I can't! The system locked the entire account! Look at the screen!
Alana: No! No, this can't be happening!
Alana shoved Julian aside, her long nails clacking desperately against the keyboard as she tried to re-enter her password.
Alana: Override code! Enter the executive override code!
Julian: It won't work, Alana! The state court issued a freeze order! Someone blocked the transaction from the main bank server!
A deep, familiar voice spoke from the open doorway behind them.
Marcus: That would be my legal team, Alana.
Alana whipped around, her eyes widening in sheer terror as Marcus stepped into the business center. He was flanked by two uniform police officers and a tall man in a dark grey suit holding a legal briefcase.
Alana: Marcus... what are you doing here?!
Marcus: Did you really think I didn't know about your offshore accounts? Did you really think I was that blind?
Julian immediately took two steps back, throwing his hands up in the air as he tried to distance himself from Alana.
Julian: Sir, I have nothing to do with this! She told me she was authorized to manage these funds!
Alana: Julian, you coward! Don't you dare throw this on me!
Marcus: Save it, both of you. Detective Vance, these are the two individuals listed in the grand larceny affidavit.
Detective Vance stepped forward, pulling two sets of steel handcuffs from his tactical belt.
Detective Vance: Alana Vance and Julian Miller, you are both under arrest for grand larceny, corporate fraud, and attempted embezzlement.
Alana: Get your hands off me! Do you know who I am?! I am Marcus Sterling's fiancée!
Marcus: You're a criminal, Alana. Nothing more.
The police officer grabbed Alana's wrists, snapping the silver cuffs around her arms behind her back.
Alana: Marcus! Please! We can talk about this! I was just trying to secure our future!
Marcus: You stole three hundred thousand dollars from my family account. You terrorized my daughter in her own home. You have no future with me, and you never will.
Alana: I loved you! I loved your family!
Marcus: You loved my money. But you picked the wrong father to cross.
The two officers escorted Alana and Julian out of the business center, guiding them right through the center of the hotel lobby.
Dozens of wealthy gala guests turned to stare in utter shock as the high-society blonde woman in the white gown was paraded past the crystal chandeliers in handcuffs.
Cameras flashed as local news reporters who were covering the charity event rushed forward to take photos of her humiliation.
Reporter: Miss Vance! Is it true you embezzled funds from the Sterling foundation?!
Alana: Turn those cameras off! Turn them off right now!
Alana buried her face in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably as the officers led her out through the glass doors and into the back of a waiting police cruiser.
Marcus stood at the top of the hotel steps, watching the police car drive away into the night traffic, its red and blue lights fading into the distance.
Arthur, his lawyer, stepped up beside him, holding a signed court document.
Arthur: Every dollar she took from the household account has been seized from her brother's offshore drive. It will be fully restored to your estate by Monday morning.
Marcus: Thank you, Arthur. Make sure the restraining order for Lily is made permanent.
Arthur: It's already done, sir. She won't be allowed within five hundred yards of your daughter for the rest of her life—assuming she ever gets out of prison.
Marcus took a deep breath of the cool night air, feeling the heavy burden of the last few months finally lift off his chest.
Marcus: I'm going home to my daughter.