Chapter 12 - The visitor behind glass
The underground visitation room of the county detention center smelled of industrial bleach and stagnant air. Madison sat behind the reinforced glass, her manicured appearance entirely stripped away. She wore standard orange inmate scrubs, her golden hair pulled back in a tangled knot, and dark circles hollowed her cheeks. Yet, despite her stripped privileges, her lips curled into a spiteful smirk when the heavy metal door clicked open.
It was not Garrett who sat down across from her. It was Harlan Vance, the high-profile defense attorney whose family had managed the Weston trust assets for over three decades.
Vance placed his leather briefcase on the steel ledge, adjusting the gold cufflinks at his wrists without looking at Madison. "You acted like an amateur," he said, his voice flat, devoid of sympathy. "Spilling wine, throwing crystal glasses, trying to push a servant down the terrace stairs. Did you honestly believe Garrett would overlook footage from his own estate cameras?"
Madison slammed her cuffed hands against the partition, causing the nearby guard to take a half-step forward. "You promised me that old woman’s heart would give out before the summer gala!" she hissed, baring her teeth. "You said the neuromuscular doses would mimic progressive motor neuron disease! Garrett was already preparing the hospice documents. If that miserable waitress hadn't noticed the residue on the porcelain cup, Margaret would be buried right now, and I would be Mrs. Weston!"
Vance leaned in closer, his cold gaze piercing right through her hysteria. "Lower your voice. The glass may be thick, but the microphones are live."
Madison swallowed, her chest heaving. "Are you going to get me out of here? My father paid you half a million dollars this morning."
"Your father paid me to contain the damage you caused," Vance replied, unsnapping his briefcase to reveal a thick stack of medical authorizations bearing Margaret’s forged signature from months earlier. "Garrett thinks he won a moral victory by putting you in handcuffs. He is currently playing hero to that waitress, offering her an executive seat at the foundation. He does not know that the foundation's corporate accounts were linked to the offshore pharmaceutical vendor who supplied the sedatives."
Madison’s eyes lit up with malicious delight. "So... Maya will take the fall?"
"Maya is merely an instrument," Vance said quietly, closing the briefcase with a crisp snap. "Garrett handed her the keys to the foundation today. When the state audit hits tomorrow morning, Maya’s signature will appear on the digital authorization forms for the identical compound used against Margaret. Garrett will face federal charges for conspiracy to eliminate his own mother, and the entire Weston estate will default directly to the secondary board of trustees."
Madison chuckled, a sound full of venom and relief. "And Garrett’s precious waitress?"
May you like
"She survived a miserable life in the shadows," Vance murmured, rising from his chair. "She should have stayed there. By sunrise, she will be labeled the mastermind behind Margaret’s slow murder."
He turned and exited through the heavy security door, leaving Madison staring through the glass, her mocking laughter echoing against the cold concrete walls.
