Richard stepped back, snatching his briefcase off the table, his eyes filled with a mixture of profound pity and absolute, self-preserving terror.

“It’s too late, Carla,” Richard said, his voice dropping to a dead, hollow whisper. “It’s signed. The notary stamped it. The digital copy was automatically filed with the probate court the second the seal hit the paper. You legally bypassed the protection of probate to assume the estate in its entirety.”

Carla fell to her knees amidst the shattered glass on the floor, weeping hysterically, grasping at the legs of the mahogany table as the walls of her wealthy, entitled life violently collapsed around her.

“You didn’t inherit an empire, Carla,” Richard stated coldly, backing away toward the glass doors, preparing to completely sever his firm’s ties with the radioactive woman crying on the floor. “You inherited a prison sentence. And my retainer does not cover federal criminal defense.”

Chapter 5: The Fallout

Six months later, the universe had aggressively, flawlessly balanced the scales.

The contrast between the smoldering, catastrophic ruins of Carla Fredel’s life and the soaring, peaceful reality of my own was absolute.