He looked smaller without his tailored suit, wearing only a grey sweatshirt and dark trousers.

His hair was wet from the rain, clinging to his forehead, and his face was pale and drawn.

Two agents held his arms, guiding him into the back of an unmarked black sedan.

“Vance faces federal charges including racketeering, wire fraud, and conspiracy,” the reporter said. “Sources tell us the investigation involves a vast network of illegal offshore accounts.”

I stared at the screen, my teacup shaking slightly in my hand.

Seeing him in handcuffs, stripped of his power, felt surreal.

“He looks so ordinary,” I whispered.

“They all do when the lights are turned on them,” Damiano said.

He switched the channel to a national news network, where a legal analyst was already discussing the case.

“The sheer volume of evidence is staggering,” the analyst was saying. “It appears someone delivered a complete roadmap of Vance’s entire financial history.”

Damiano turned the volume down until it was just a low murmur.

“The prosecutors will not offer him a deal,” Damiano said. “The public pressure will be too great.”