Melanie was backed against the mahogany desk, her pale face framed by messy, falling hair.

“Wyatt?” she gasped, looking at the silver handcuffs Harper was pulling from his belt.

“You… you set me up?”

“You were never going to sign those papers.”

“No,” Wyatt said, his voice cold and steady.

“I was never going to let you hurt Sadie again.”

Harper grabbed Melanie’s wrists, pulling them behind her back with a swift, practiced motion.

The metal cuffs clicked shut, a sound that seemed to echo in the small room.

“Melanie Davis, you are under arrest for conspiracy to commit felonious assault, extortion, and blackmail,” Harper recited.

She looked past the detective, her eyes locking onto mine with a sudden, venomous rage.

“You ruined us, Sadie!” she screamed as the officers began to guide her toward the door.

“You took everything from this family!”

“You were always the favorite, and now you’ve destroyed us!”

I stood silent, watching her get led down the long corridor, her heels clicking rapidly until the sound faded.

Arthur Bennett stepped out from the adjacent waiting room, leaning heavily on his dark wooden cane.