Chapter 15 – Charity Breakfast
Beckett Vale was arrested on a Thursday morning while the city was covered in freezing rain.
Not at home.
Not in some dramatic chase.
But in the middle of a charity breakfast, standing beneath a banner that read PROTECTING FAMILIES TOGETHER.
The irony almost embarrassed me for him.
The footage spread within an hour. Federal agents walking through crystal chandeliers. Board members staring into coffee cups. Beckett in a navy suit, frozen mid-smile as investigators read the charges aloud.
Fraud.
Financial conspiracy.
Witness intimidation.
Domestic abuse.
Evidence tampering.
And finally: attempted unlawful conservatorship for financial control.
Ella watched the arrest from our living room with both hands wrapped around a mug of tea.
May you like
She did not smile.
That mattered to me.
