Chapter 6 - The Tiger in the Trap
Travis Miller sat in the executive suite of his father’s private office downtown, staring blankly at the mahogany desk.
The bail had been posted late last night, courtesy of a rapidly depleting emergency account that Judge Miller had reluctantly authorized just to keep his son out of a general population cell. But freedom felt like a cruel illusion. The office doors were locked, and the atmosphere inside was colder than absolute zero.
The private elevator chime pinged down the hall. Heavy, deliberate footsteps approached the frosted glass double doors.
Click.
The door swung open, and Judge Richard Miller walked in. He didn't take off his trench coat. He didn't sit down behind his desk. He simply stood in the center of the room, looking down at his son with a gaze so filled with venom and utter contempt that Travis instinctively shrank back into his leather chair.
"Dad..." Travis stammered, his voice trembling. "You... you saw the news? It’s all lies. Lena’s family hacked our server, they fabricated those financial reports to frame me—"
CRACK.
The sound of the heavy crystal decanter slamming against the mahogany desk made Travis jump out of his seat with a shriek. Amber bourbon splashed across the polished wood, dripping onto the expensive Persian rug.
"Shut your lying, pathetic mouth!" Judge Miller roared, his voice shaking the glass frames on the wall. For the first time in his life, Travis saw his father—the calm, collected, untouchable master of the courtroom—completely lose control.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?" the judge whispered, leaning over the desk, his face inches from Travis’s terrified eyes. "Thirty years of building political alliances. Thirty years of buying favors, shaping judges, securing appointments—all of it obliterated in twenty-four hours because you couldn't keep your hands off your wife and your fingers out of my trust fund!"
"I—I panicked!" Travis whimpered, his bravado completely vanished. "She found the statements! She was going to take half the assets in the divorce settlement! I had to silence her!"
"Silence her?" Judge Miller laughed, a bitter, terrifying sound. "You didn't silence her, you absolute fool. You handed her father a loaded bazooka and pointed it right at my chest. The State Attorney General’s office called me twenty minutes ago. They’re launching a grand jury investigation into the trust fund irregularities. My career is over, Travis. Everything I built... gone."
Travis swallowed hard, the cold sweat beading on his forehead. "So... what do we do? We have to fight them. We can lean on the prosecutors—"
"There is no 'we' anymore," Judge Miller interrupted, standing straight up and buttoning his coat with rigid finality. "As of two minutes ago, my legal team has filed notices severing all representation for you. Furthermore, I have instructed our family estate attorneys to disinherit you completely effective immediately."
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Travis stared at him in horror. "You can't do that! I’m your son!"
"My son died the moment he picked up a baseball bat and proved he was nothing more than a common, violent thug," the judge said, walking toward the private exit without looking back. "Good luck with your public defender, Travis. You're going to need it."
