THE GLASS CHANDELIER

The next morning, the interrogation room at the central police precinct smelled of stale coffee and industrial disinfectant. Gareth sat at the cold metal table, his tuxedo jacket gone, his white shirt wrinkled and unbuttoned at the collar. His eyes were dark-rimmed, devoid of sleep.

Across the table sat his defense attorney, Richard Sterling, a high-priced lawyer who had represented the Vance family for over two decades.

"The bail judge refused to set a bond," Sterling said flatly, adjusting his gold-rimmed glasses. "The child endangerment charge, combined with the video evidence of premeditation, makes you a flight risk in his eyes."

"Get me out of here, Richard!" Gareth slammed his fists on the table, the sound rattling the plastic water cups. "She hacked the network! She planted that video!"

"The forensic team already analyzed the feed, Gareth," Sterling replied, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper. "The raw data is clean. The timestamp matches the physical evidence. You put the watch in the girl's bag. What were you thinking?"

Gareth leaned back, breathing heavily, his jaws clenched tightly. "You don't understand. I had to. The debt collectors... they were going to leak the offshore accounts if I didn't produce the voting control by Friday."

Sterling froze, his eyes narrowing behind his lenses. "What debt collectors?"

"The ones running the logistics firm in Singapore," Gareth confessed, his voice trembling now. "I used the company's reserve capital as collateral for a private loan three months ago. I lost it all on foreign exchange futures. If Marissa takes control of the board on Monday, she’ll order an internal audit. She’ll see the missing forty million!"

Sterling slowly leaned forward, placing both hands flat on the table. "You stole from the trust?"

"I didn't steal it! I lost it!" Gareth yelled hysterically. "And if I go down, the whole firm goes down! Marissa thinks she won yesterday, but she just triggered a bomb that's going to destroy everything Father built!"

Sterling stayed silent for a long moment, calculating the legal and financial fallout. Finally, he spoke, his voice dripping with sinister intent. "There is one way out, Gareth. But it requires you to sign over your remaining personal assets to a third party to cover the debt before the audit occurs."