The muffled chime of a phone began ringing from deep inside Daniel’s sealed mahogany coffin

The paramedics carefully assisted Arthur Pendelton out of the mahogany coffin. The older man’s legs were unsteady, his tailored suit wrinkled and stained with sweat. As they wrapped an orange thermal blanket around his shoulders, Arthur’s wild eyes locked onto Charles Vance.

"You thought you could bury me, Charles?!" Arthur shouted, his voice cracking with dry, raspy rage. He coughed violently, leaning heavily on a paramedic. "You thought you could pin the missing thirty million on me and put me in the ground?!"

Charles Vance stood perfectly erect, smoothing the lapels of his suit with maddening calm. The bright sunlight illuminated the cold, dead expression on his face.

"I have no idea who this deranged individual is," Charles stated smoothly to the nearest police officer. "He clearly suffers from some sort of psychotic delusion. He must have broken into the mortuary and locked himself inside the casket in a bid to extort my family."

"Extort?!" Arthur roared, trying to lunge forward before the paramedics held him back. "I've managed the Vance accounts for twenty years! I know about the Miami shell companies! I know about the offshore trusts! I know what you did to your own son!"

Margaret let out a sharp, theatrical gasp, placing a delicate hand against her pearl necklace. "Officer, please! Make him stop! Our son just died in a horrific accident! We cannot bear to listen to the ravings of a madman on the day of his funeral!"

"He isn't mad, Margaret," Sarah’s voice cut through the clamor, cold and sharp as a blade.

The entire room turned to look at her. Sarah stood holding Emma’s hand, her black mourning dress striking against the vivid, stained-glass light. She looked directly at her mother-in-law, refusing to back down.

"What did you say, Sarah?" Charles asked, his voice dropping into a menacing, low register.

"I said, he isn't mad," Sarah repeated, stepping forward. "Daniel told me about Arthur. He told me about the Miami accounts."

It was a bluff—a dangerous, calculated gamble to draw their attention away from the exits. Sarah didn't know the details of the Miami accounts, only what Daniel had briefly mentioned in the video. But the reaction from the Vance family told her everything she needed to know.

Ryan’s face flushed a violent shade of red. He took a step toward Sarah, only to be immediately blocked by a police officer. "She's hysterical! She doesn't know what she's talking about!"

Arthur Pendelton stared at Sarah, a glimmer of hope breaking through his terror. "He told you? Daniel told you?"

"He told me everything, Arthur," Sarah lied, maintaining unwavering eye contact with the accountant. "He left me the ledgers."

The silence that followed was absolute. The word ledgers hung in the bright, airy room like a live grenade.

Margaret’s rosy cheeks turned the color of ash. She looked at Charles, her eyes wide with undisguised panic. If Sarah had the ledgers, their entire criminal empire was compromised. They wouldn't just go to prison; the cartel they were laundering money for would slaughter them.

"Officer," Charles said, his voice suddenly tight, losing its polished veneer. "My daughter-in-law is clearly suffering a mental break. I insist you allow us to take her home. We have private medical staff who can sedate her and give her the care she needs."

"Nobody is sedating me," Sarah snapped, pulling Emma closer. "I am leaving. And I am going straight to the FBI."

"You aren't going anywhere, Sarah," Margaret hissed, her face contorting into an ugly, venomous mask. "You are a part of this family. And this family protects its own."

"You killed your own son," Sarah fired back, her voice echoing off the high ceilings. "Don't talk to me about family."

The lead police officer stepped between the warring factions, raising his hands. "Alright, that is enough! Everyone is coming down to the precinct. Nobody is going home until we sort this out."

Sarah nodded in agreement, but as she glanced at the officers, she noticed one of them—a tall man near the side door—exchange a very subtle, very deliberate nod with Ryan Vance.