Chapter 4 - The Audit of the Ashford Dynasty
By eight o'clock the following morning, the private executive library of the Vance estate was transformed into a federal command center.
Assistant United States Attorney Marcus Reed sat at the massive cherrywood conference table alongside Detective Raymond Callahan of the FBI’s Public Corruption Task Force. Stacks of unsealed financial audits, tax evasion indictments, and encrypted wiretap transcripts covered the table.
Julian sat at the head of the table in a tailored charcoal three-piece suit, his presence commanding absolute, breathless authority.
I sat beside him, dressed in a simple navy wool dress Mrs. Gable had tailored for me, the bruising on my neck concealed by a high collar of soft silk.
"The trap has snapped shut, Mr. Vance," Marcus Reed reported, projecting a massive corporate flowchart onto the eighty-foot digital display wall. "At 6:00 AM, federal marshals executed simultaneous search warrants on Judge Richard Ashford’s private chambers at the Daley Center and his residential estate in Barrington."
"What did you recover from the safe, Marcus?" Julian asked.
"Twelve million dollars in uncollateralized commercial bribes paid by private construction syndicates to secure municipal zoning variances," Reed replied, tapping his pen against the screen. "Alongside the sealed adoption and birth records for Josephine and Willa Ashford."
Reed turned to me, his expression softening with deep professional respect.
"Mrs. Ashford... or rather, Miss Bennett. The birth certificates registered by Travis Ashford in 2021 were fraudulent. He paid an administrative clerk five thousand dollars to list his name as the biological father without a certified paternity affidavit."
Julian pulled an envelope from his breast pocket, sliding a freshly unsealed DNA diagnostic report across the table to me.
"Dr. Sarah Lin ran the comparative genetic sequence on the girls' hair samples last night, Camille," Julian said softly.
I opened the document.
PROBABILITY OF PATERNITY: 99.998%
BIOLOGICAL FATHER: JULIAN ALEXANDER VANCE
My breath hitched. I pressed the paper against my chest, a profound, unshakeable peace washing through my veins. The shadow of Travis’s claim over my daughters was permanently severed.
"What is Travis's legal status right now, Detective?" I asked.
"Travis Ashford is being held without bond in the maximum-security wing of the Metropolitan Correctional Center," Detective Callahan stated firmly. "The grand jury has returned a ten-count indictment: Felony Attempted Aggravated Kidnapping, First-Degree Domestic Battery with Strangulation, Stalking in Violation of a Protection Order, and Interstate Extortion."
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Julian stood up from the table, his slate-gray eyes locking onto the federal prosecutors.
"Tell Judge Ashford that his bail hearing for bribery begins at two o'clock," Julian commanded. "And make sure the press has front-row seats."
