Ready In Handcuffs

“FUCK!”

Glass shattered against the wall, exploding into a thousand glittering pieces. The sound echoed through the massive bedroom, followed by the crash of another, then another.

Rune yelled as he tossed another flower vase on the wall, watching it shatter. He paced the room like a caged animal, eyes wild, hair disheveled, his white shirt now wrinkled and stained with the remnants of whiskey.

“Those bastards!” he roared, snatching another decanter from the bar cart and hurling it against the marble fireplace. “Those bloody, backstabbing…”

The rest of his words drowned in his own fury. He gripped the edge of his desk, chest heaving. His empire was crashing before his very eyes! The company he worked so hard to make its name relevant was crumbling before his very eyes!

Outside, through the large bay windows, the white flashes of cameras were unmistakable. Dozens of reporters had gathered outside the Sterling gates, shouting his name, their microphones raised high.

“Mr. Sterling! Is it true?”

“Did you defraud your partners?”

“What about the affair with your bridesmaid?”

“Do you really have offshore accounts? How many?”

“We heard from a source that your affair with Yumi has been happening long before you broke your engagement with Thea Blackwood, is that true?”

Their voices were muffled but he could hear them loud and clear, drilling through his skull. Rune pressed his palms against his temples.

“Get out of my head…” he muttered. “Get out!” He screamed, flipping the glass table over and leading to another loud crash followed by a million prices of glass scattered everywhere.

The door creaked open.

“My goodness…” Fiona’s soft voice broke through the chaos. She stepped into the wreckage of her son’s room, her heels crunching on broken glass. “Runes! What is all this? You’re going to hurt yourself.”

He turned sharply, his eyes bloodshot. “Don’t,” he hissed.

Fiona’s heart clenched. He looked nothing like the perfect son she had paraded before the world.

Her golden boy, her pride.

This man standing before her was nothing but an enraged man looking for whom to use as a scapegoat!

“This is unnecessary!” she said gently, inching closer. “We can fix this. Your father and I…”

“Fix this?” Rune’s laugh was sharp and bitter. “You can’t fix this! Do you have any idea what they’ve done? What she’s done to me?”

He swept his arm across the room, sending a chair across the room, just a few feet away from where Fioan stood! She flinched.

“It’s all over the internet,” he continued, voice rising. “The videos, the documents, everything! They think I’m some kind of fraud! Some kind of monster! Me!”

Fiona reached for him but he jerked away.

“You are not a monster,” she said, trying to sound calm. “People will believe what they want, but we’ll release a statement…”

Rune barked a laugh, low and humorless. “A statement? What do you expect me to say, huh? That I was framed? That my ‘enemies’ fabricated financial reports, offshore accounts, and fake signatures?” He scoffed.

Her hands trembled. “Then we’ll deny it.”

He spun on her, eyes blazing. “You don’t get it, do you? I’m finished!”

The words fell heavy, final.

Fiona froze where she stood, the realization dawning on her slowly, painfully. Her son; her brilliant, cunning, beautiful boy was no longer untouchable.

“Rune…” she whispered.

“Get out,” he said, voice cold now.

“Don’t..”

“I said get out!” He slammed his fist on the desk, making her jump.

For the first time in her life, Fiona obeyed her son without question. She turned, shoulders shaking, and walked out of the room.

The door slammed behind her, the sound reverberating through the mansion.

Rune sank into the nearest chair, burying his face in his hands. His mind raced. Thea knew about him and Yumi? But how? How did she find out about his affair?

The phone on the floor buzzed again. Another call from Jay.

Rune ignored it. His father had refused to step back into their home after the incident. Rune scoffed, the self-righteous old fool! Now he wants to talk?!

Then, moments later, the door burst open without warning.

Jay stormed in, face red, eyes filled with fury. “You’ve done it this time, haven’t you?”

Rune didn’t even lift his head. “Not now.”

“Oh, now you don’t want to talk?” Jay barked, stepping closer. “You’ve brought disgrace to this entire family! Do you have any idea what people are saying about us right now?!”

Rune looked up, his gaze sharp as a blade. “What people are saying? People have always talked and you just never had the balls to listen.”

Jay’s jaw clenched. “ Mind your tone with me boy!” He threatened. “You defrauded your investors. Slept with another woman on your wedding day. You humiliated our name, our company…”

Rune shot to his feet, towering over him. “I built this company! You think you’d even have a family name without me?! You’ve been feeding off my success for years!”

“Success?” Jay’s voice dripped with disgust. “You call that success? Lies, fraud, deceit? Our name means nothing now because of you!”

Rune’s temper flared. “You think you’re any better than me? You stood by while I took the fall for your failed projects! I carried you!

Jay crossed the room and landed a heavy punch on Runes face, sending him to the ground. “You bloody asshole! Who the hell do you think you're talking to?!”

A loud knock rattled the door, followed by a stern voice.

“Mr. Rune, open up. This is the Metropolitan Police.”

Rune froze. And Jay cursed under his breath.

The knock came again, harder this time. “Mr. Sterling, we have a warrant for your arrest.”

“What the…” He backed away instinctively. “Arrest?”

The door swung open before he could reach it. Two uniformed officers entered, followed by a man Rune instantly recognized.

Andy.

His business analyst. His right-hand man. The one person he thought he could trust.

Rune’s eyes narrowed into slits. “You,” he spat.

Andy met his gaze without flinching. “It’s over, Rune.”

“You sold me out,” Rune growled.

Andy shrugs. “Its nothing compared to what you and your father put my family through..”

Rage surged through Rune’s veins. “You son of a—”

Before he could lunge forward, one of the officers stepped in, pinning his arms behind his back.

“You are under arrest for securities fraud, embezzlement, money laundering, and falsification of financial records,” the officer recited. “You have the right to remain silent…”

“Get your hands off me!” Rune snarled, struggling against the hold.

“Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…”

“Do you know who I am?!” Rune shouted, thrashing violently. “You can’t arrest me! I own half this goddamn city!”

But the cuffs clicked around his wrists all the same.

“Officers, can we please discuss this..” Jay tries to block the men but one hard look from one of the officers sends him into a corner.

“Will you excuse us? We will charge you with disruption of justice.

Fiona appeared at the end of the hall, pale as marble. “Rune!” she gasped, rushing forward. “What are you doing? You can’t take him! He’s my son!”

Andy’s face twisted with a cocky smile. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Sterling but justice doesn’t play favorites.”

Fiona glared at him, furious. “You asshole!”

Andy was out of the house before Fiona could reach him.

The officers led Rune toward the staircase. Reporters were already gathered at the front door, their flashes like a thousand tiny explosions.

As they dragged him down the steps, Rune thrashed again, shouting, “This isn’t over! You hear me?! I’ll destroy every one of you!”

But his words were drowned by the chaos outside. The massive double doors opened, and the blinding lights of the press hit him full force.

“Rune Sterling, how do you respond to the allegations?”

“Did you really steal from your investors?”

“Were you aware of the criminal activities within your firm?”

“Did you cheat on your fiancée?”

“Get out of my face!” Rune screamed, his voice hoarse, spittle flying as he tried to shove the cameras away.

The officers forced him down the marble steps, their grips unrelenting.

Fiona’s sobs echoed faintly from the doorway, her hands covering her face as her son was pushed into the back of the police car.

“Rune! Please! Tell them it’s not true!”

But Rune didn’t answer. His jaw was clenched, his eyes glassy, his chest rising and falling with each furious breath.

The cameras zoomed in through the tinted window as he glared out at the. The man once praised as a prodigy, now nothing more than a fraud and a cheat in cuffs.

“Get lost!” he bellowed, slamming his head back against the seat, the veins in his neck standing out. “All of you! Get lost!”

But the reporters didn’t move. They never did. They were here to capture his moment of shame and he would have to deal with it..