The Prison-Made Queen novel Chapter 1040

A horrifying thought suddenly hijacked his brain: *Did Talbot back out at the last second?*

No, that made no sense.

Talbot was in too deep; they were handcuffed together in this conspiracy. Plus, the old man, Dante Langley, explicitly refused to let Talbot inherit the Langley Group. If Talbot had half a brain, he wouldn't blow up their deal right at the finish line.

Just then, his phone vibrated violently in his hand. The screen flashed *Mr. Judson*.

Fitch snatched it up like a lifeline. "Stefan, what's going on—"

"Mr. Sherwood! We have a massive problem!"

His lawyer's voice bordered on hysterical. "Federal investigators just raided the corporate office! They're demanding the financial ledgers for the past three years! The CFO is already in custody!"

Fitch's hand convulsed, nearly dropping the phone. "What?! When did this happen?"

His heart practically exploded in his chest. His corporate books were a minefield of illegal activity; they couldn't withstand a five-minute audit, let alone a federal raid. Who the hell had the power to trigger an investigation this massive right now?

"Literally ten minutes ago! And that's not all..."

Judson dropped his voice to a terrified whisper. "I have contacts saying the SEC is digging into the funding for our last major acquisition—"

Suddenly, a violent scuffle erupted on the other end of the line. Judson's panicked shout echoed through the speaker: "Hey, what are you doing?! That's my phone—"

The line went dead.

Fitch sat frozen, his skin turning a sickly, ashen gray. His mind short-circuited.

He had bribed every official. He had paid off every auditor. Everything was locked down before he even arrived at the cafe. Where was the leak?

Before he could process the sheer scale of the disaster, the heavy sound of approaching footsteps echoed outside his private room.

Snapping out of his paralysis, Fitch grabbed his leather briefcase and bolted for the exit.

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