Chapter 4 - THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF DEBT
The shark-eyed man was Victor,
the lead enforcer for the organization my father had served.
He didn't care about the gala or the masquerade.
He walked straight to our table,
knocking a tray of champagne glasses to the floor.
"Marcus hasn't paid,"
Victor said,
his voice a low,
deadly growl.
"And we hear the old man’s money is stuck in the pipes."
The ballroom went silent,
the guests retreating to the edges like startled birds.
My father stepped forward,
his hands shaking.
"Victor,
please,"
he begged.
"We just need a few more days."
"We have the collateral right here,"
he said,
pointing to me.
"She’s married to billions!"
I felt a wave of nausea.
My own father was still trying to sell me,
even after the wedding.
Victor looked at me,
then at Adrian,
who was leaning heavily on his cane,
playing the part of the helpless bystander.
"I don't want a girl,"
Victor spat.
"I want the five million Marcus lost at the table."
"And if I don't get it by midnight,"
"I start taking fingers."
He looked at Marcus,
who was trying to hide behind a decorative pillar.
"Let's start with the brother,"
Victor decided.
He lunged for Marcus,
but before he could reach him,
something impossible happened.
The "frail" Mr. Vale didn't move like an old man.
He moved like a lightning bolt.
The cane swung up,
catching Victor under the chin with a sickening crack.
Adrian then dropped the cane,
grabbed Victor's arm,
and twisted it until the bone snapped.
The ballroom erupted in screams.
Adrian didn't stop.
He kicked out Victor’s knee and slammed his head into the marble table.
In the chaos,
Adrian’s mask began to peel at the temple,
the sweat and the violence loosening the adhesive.
He didn't care.
He looked at my family,
his face a terrifying mix of young rage and old silicon.
"The money is gone,"
Adrian shouted,
his real voice booming through the hall.
"I didn't buy your debts to pay them."
"I bought them so I could own you."
He reached up and tore the mask away completely,
revealing his rugged,
scarred face to the stunned crowd.
My mother shrieked,
falling back into a chair.
My father looked as if he were having a stroke.
"Adrian Vale?"
my father wheezed.
"But you died in the fire..."
"I crawled out of the ashes you built,"
Adrian said,
stepping over Victor’s groaning body.
"And I spent ten years learning how to destroy everything you love."
He turned to me,
extending a hand.
"Evelyn,
the ledger."
I stepped forward,
opening my clutch and pulling out the tablet I had been carrying.
With a few taps,
I sent the final files to the federal authorities and the cartel’s rivals simultaneously.
"It’s done,"
I said,
my voice echoing in the stillness.
"The accounts are drained,
the crimes are logged,
and the protection is gone."
Marcus looked at me,
his face pale with betrayal.
"You...
you did this to us?"
"You did this to yourselves,"
I said,
feeling a sudden,
lightness in my chest.
"I just did the math."
Sirens began to wail outside,
the red and blue lights reflecting in the ballroom windows.
The FBI was coming for the fraud.
May you like
The cartel was coming for the blood.
And we were already moving toward the back exit.
