Chapter 7 - The Foreclosure of Loyalty
The tackle was swift and unceremonious. Detective Thorne caught Derek by the shoulder, pivoting his weight, while the two uniformed officers drove him into the carpeted floor of the executive corridor.
The sound of Derek’s face hitting the industrial carpet, followed by the sharp, metallic click of handcuffs, echoed through the quiet offices of Weber Engineering.
"You're making a mistake!" Derek screamed, his voice muffled by the carpet. "Joselyn! Call the attorney! Call Mark! Joselyn, do something!"
Joselyn didn't move. She sat frozen in the chair, her hands pressed over her mouth, watching the man she was supposed to marry in four days thrash on the floor like a common criminal.
"Derek Vance Miller," Detective Thorne read from a laminated card as they hauled him to his feet. "You are under arrest pursuant to an active bench warrant issued by the Maricopa County Superior Court for grand larceny, bank fraud, and identity theft, as well as local warrants for forgery in the first degree."
Derek’s hair was wild, his designer shirt torn at the collar. As the officers dragged him toward the private executive elevators, he turned his head, spitting vitriol back into the room.
"You're a parasite, Joselyn!" he screamed down the hall. "You think I wanted you? You were nothing but an easy mark! An insecure, pathetic little girl desperate for attention! You gave me everything I asked for, you idiot! Everything!"
The elevator doors chimed and slid shut, cutting off his voice.
The corridor returned to a deafening silence. My staff stood frozen at their cubicles, staring wide-eyed toward my office.
"Everyone back to work, please," I said gently to my team. "Maria, please bring a glass of cold water."
I walked back into my office and closed the door.
Joselyn was shaking violently. Her designer coat, purchased with the money from the 401(k) she had emptied for Derek, hung off her shoulders. She looked hollow, stripped of the arrogance and condescension she had worn like armor for the past year.
"Mom..." she whispered, her voice cracking into tiny, jagged fragments. "Mom... what happened?"
I stood by the window, looking out over the city skyline, over the bridges Robert and I had designed with our own hands.
"You allowed a thief into your life because he told you what you wanted to hear," I said, not turning around immediately. "And you discarded the people who truly loved you because we told you the truth."
"I didn't know," she sobbed, burying her face in her hands. "Mom, I swear to God I didn't know about the forgery! I didn't know about Arizona! He told me he was building a legacy for us! He told me you were jealous of our relationship!"
"You didn't know about the forgery," I said, turning to face her. "But you knew how he treated me. You knew he spoke to your mother with contempt. You sat across from me at dinner tables and watched him belittle my work, dismiss Robert’s memory, and demand financial handouts. And you nodded along because you thought his luxury lifestyle made you important."
"Mom, please—"
"You sent me a text message," I reminded her, the words etched into my memory forever. "*'You're not invited to my wedding. Derek doesn't want you there.'* You sent that to me while I was sitting at a bank desk preparing to give you twenty-five thousand dollars."
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Joselyn dropped to her knees on my office floor, sobbing uncontrollably. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, Mom! Please, you have to help me! The apartment lease—Derek made me co-sign the commercial leases! The creditors are going to come after me! I don't have any money left! I gave him everything!"
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