558 I watched my brother's hand disappear behind his back, and eleven months of combat training took over before conscious thought ever caught up.

Back in the primary observation suite, Elena was pacing the floor while little Leo was quietly chewing on a teething ring she had managed to borrow from a nurse.

"Marcus cough up the drive?" Elena asked immediately as I walked through the door.

I held up the black USB drive. "Everything we need. Financial records, recorded phone calls, and direct proof that Katherine and Caleb orchestrated the entire cover-up to protect their embezzled empire."

Elena let out a sharp whistle of relief. "Perfect timing. Your mother has requested a formal interview. She says she wants to make a statement—provided she speaks directly to you."

"To me?"

"She thinks she can manipulate you," Elena warned, narrowing her eyes. "Old-school matriarch control tactics. She thinks emotional blackmail will make you drop federal charges to protect the family name."

"She doesn't know me anymore," I said coldly. "Let's go."

We walked down the secure corridor to Interrogation Room Alpha, where Katherine Vance sat alone under the harsh glare of an overhead spotlight. Gone was the untouchable, impeccably groomed queen of Crestwood Ridge; in her place sat an aging, desperate woman whose empire had crumbled into dust.

When I pulled the heavy door open and stepped inside, she looked up, her eyes narrowing with a mixture of maternal entitlement and burning resentment.

"Daniel," she said, her voice shaking slightly but retaining a sharp edge. "You're really going to destroy your own family over a girl who didn't even belong in our world?"

I didn't sit down. I remained standing over her, resting my hands flat on the metal table, letting the silence stretch until her composure began to fray.

"She was my wife, Mother," I said softly, the quiet deadliness in my voice making her flinch. "And you murdered her because she caught you and Caleb stealing money behind my back."

"We didn't murder her!" Katherine snapped, slamming her frail hands against the table. "She was hysterical! She threatened to take Leo away, to ruin everything we built, everything your father left us! Caleb panicked during the argument, things got out of hand... it was an accident!"

I pulled out the encrypted flash drive and set it gently on the table between us.

"Marcus just gave us the audio recordings, Mother. Including the conversation where you and Caleb discussed how to stage the fake medical records and bribe the local coroner. It wasn't an accident. It was premeditated homicide."

Katherine stared at the black USB drive, her breath catching in her throat. The rigid posture she had maintained her entire life finally collapsed, and she slumped backward into her chair, defeated by her own arrogance.

"You always were too much like your father," she whispered bitterly, tears finally spilling down her cheeks. "Too honest. Too rigid. You don't know what it takes to survive in a world like ours."