“I don’t see what the big deal is, Robert,” I said smoothly, perfectly echoing his exact cruel, dismissive tone as the agent aggressively slapped heavy steel handcuffs on his wrists. “There must have been a simple clerical error in your little master plan to rob my grandfather.”

“They’re actively threatening to completely send me to federal prison!” he yelled, his voice completely cracking in absolute, pathetic terror as the iPad showed the auction lot completely seized. “I’m literally ruined right now!”

“You should just aggressively buy a cheap Casio in the prison commissary for a few years,” I whispered coldly to Robert. “Enjoy the massive felony charges. The collection is safely back in my vault.”

I explicitly turned my back and permanently locked the massive front doors.

The incredibly complex legal extraction was completely flawless. I proudly walked into my expensive custom vault that afternoon feeling incredibly sore but perfectly, beautifully free. The heavy weight of his greed was completely gone forever.

Robert was aggressively and publicly humiliated right in our neighborhood in front of his arrogant golf buddies. His terrified, arrogant ego completely shattered the very second the FBI agents aggressively shoved him into the squad car with absolutely zero sympathy. My lawyer explicitly filed a massive civil suit that exact same evening, completely destroying Robert’s financial future.

He lost his reputation, his incredibly comfortable life, and his entire pride. He is currently facing exactly decades of brutal federal prison for art theft.

My pristine brass jeweler’s loupe is still perfectly sitting on my front desk. But last night, for the very first time in exactly four weeks, I officially wound my grandfather’s favorite watch and genuinely smiled.