Before the Wheels Touched Down
Chapter 13 - Before the Wheels Touched Down
Chicago appeared beneath the jet as Captain Lewis announced the descent.
Victoria remained on the phone with Martin while the flight crew prepared the cabin. Corporate security would meet the aircraft at the private terminal. So would independent counsel and airport police, because the encrypted drive and medical access raised possible criminal issues.
Ryan heard the arrangements.
“You are having me arrested?”
“I am preserving evidence.”
“You are my wife.”
“Not for much longer.”
He leaned closer, lowering his voice.
“You think the board will trust you after this becomes public? Your husband and your attorney conspired under your nose.”
Victoria looked at Ryan.
“I may be judged for trusting you.”
She glanced at the transaction binder and the false medical packet.
“You will be judged for what you did with that trust.”
The landing gear lowered with a mechanical rumble.
Chloe gripped the armrest.
Ryan sat back.
For the first time during the flight, Victoria allowed herself to look through the window.
The city lights rose toward them.
Her reflection floated faintly in the glass: composed hair, navy suit, her mother’s ring on one hand and an empty space where her wedding band had been. She did not look victorious. She looked exhausted.
That mattered.
Justice did not erase betrayal. Winning the company back did not restore the marriage she thought she had. The landing would bring lawyers, statements, questions, and months of discovering how deeply Ryan had entered systems she once trusted.
But the company remained hers.
May you like
The truth remained intact.
And the aircraft was carrying the evidence directly to the people who could act on it.
