All Chapters of The Consortium Behind Your Collapse: Chapter 41
- Chapter 50
73 chapters
The Syndicate
Julian remained in the hallway of his apartment, standing as still as a statue while Ethan stood beside him. Ethan was focused on his tablet, carefully reviewing the first set of the reports they had gathered regarding the storage unit Eleanor mentioned. Outside, the weather had turned aggressive. The rain hit the glass panes with a rhythmic, heavy thud that filled the quiet room."The volume of data is significant," Ethan said, his voice low as he swiped through high-resolution photos sent by his field team. "We are looking at detailed financial ledgers, documents showing the formation of shell companies, and records of offshore account transfers. Everything Eleanor described matches the physical evidence.""And what about the Vanderbilt Syndicate?" Julian asked, his voice steady but cold.Ethan looked up. "That is the primary reason I wanted to speak with you privately. The moment Eleanor mentioned that name, our internal network flagged it for hig
Deadly Game
The heavy oak door to Victor Adam’s private office remained closed until the package arrived on Thursday morning. His assistant discovered it resting against the threshold, a nondescript manila envelope lacking a return address, or postage.She rapped her knuckles against the wood with hesitation. "Mr. Adam? A delivery just arrived for you.""Leave it on the floor," Victor shouted from within, his voice strained.The assistant placed the envelope down and walked away quickly. Inside the office, Victor sat motionless at his mahogany desk, his eyes burning as he scanned financial reports that confirmed his worst fears. Adam Industries was hemorrhaging capital at a rate that defied logic. The board of directors had already scheduled a vote to strip him of his chairmanship on Monday, and by his own estimation, the entire corporate empire had less than three weeks before total insolvency.The legacy he had spent forty years constructing w
The Exchange
Julian arrived at Harrisworth’s Auction House at seven-fifty on Friday morning, standing alone for ten minutes before the heavy door opened.Charles Harrisworth entered."Mr. Blackwood. The room is fully swept and secured. I have already calibrated my authentication equipment as you requested in our correspondence.""I appreciate the thoroughness, Charles." Julian placed his briefcase on the center of the table. The wood was so dark it looked almost like a pool of stagnant water. "A woman will arrive shortly with a collection of documents. They require a rigorous verification process. I need to know, without any shadow of uncertainty, if they are genuine."Charles paused, his hands resting on the edge of a velvet-lined equipment case. "Of course. However, I feel compelled to ask if this matter involves the current legal difficulties surrounding the Adam family.""It is connected to that orbit," Julian replied. "But I trust
The Photograph
Eleanor’s phone began vibrating at 6:47 AM, the notifications arriving with speed. She grabbed the device from her nightstand, squinting at the glowing screen through eyes heavy with exhaustion. Her social media apps were a chaotic mess of hundreds of new tags, mentions, and private messages, all of which had flooded her accounts within the last twenty minutes.The first image loaded slowly, line by line, revealing a photograph she had desperately hoped would never see the light of day. There she was, captured in the unforgiving glare of paparazzi flashes outside Harrisworth’s auction house. Her face was streaked with tears as she stood close to Julian. The specific angle of the shot made the encounter look intimate and desperate. The caption above it read: "DESPERATE EX-WIFE CRAWLS BACK TO BLACKWOOD."Eleanor felt her stomach drop as she scrolled through dozens of nearly identical posts. Every gossip blog, entertainment news site, and social media influencer had seized upon the story
The Trap
Derek Stone checked the surveillance images on his tablet. He sat in a dark SUV parked a few blocks away from Julian’s apartment. His team had been following Julian Blackwood for three full days. They had watched every move he made and noted every single habit."The subject sticks to a very strict routine," Derek said into his phone. He was giving an update to Raymond Adam. "He gets coffee at the same shop every morning. He spends his afternoons at different office buildings. At eight in the evening, he walks through Patterson Park. He is always by himself. I do not see any bodyguards or security around him."Raymond’s voice sounded nervous over the secure line. "Are you absolutely sure about that? A man with his kind of money should have people protecting him.""We have had eyes on him for seventy-two hours straight. If he has security, they are ghosts." Derek pinched the screen to zoom in on a photo. It showed Julian walking through the
The Choice
Eleanor stared at her laptop screen, her fingers hovering over the keyboard. The cursor blinked in the empty text box of her social media post, waiting for her to type the words that would save her from Blake's threat.Twenty-two hours had passed since his ultimatum. Two hours remained.She'd written and deleted the statement seventeen times. Each version felt worse than the last, each lie more bitter on her tongue even though she was only typing them, not speaking them aloud.Her current draft read: "I want to address the recent photographs of me with my ex-husband Julian Blackwood. Julian has been harassing me for money, manipulating me emotionally, and refusing to accept that our marriage is over. The meeting you saw was not reconciliation—it was me finally telling him to leave me alone. His behavior has been increasingly concerning, and I felt it was important to speak my truth. I ask for privacy during this difficult time."Eleanor read it again. The words made her sick.Julian h
The Syndicate's Warning
Victor Adam remained motionless in his hospital bed, his eyes fixed on the ceiling tiles where he counted the jagged cracks in the plaster to keep his mind from fraying. It had been forty-eight hours since his heart failed him and seventy-two hours since federal agents had placed him under arrest as a material witness. In this sterile room, every passing hour felt like a slow, painful year.The heavy sedatives the doctors had administered after his collapse were finally fading, but they left behind a cold clarity that was far worse than the fog. He thought of the Vanderbilt Syndicate and the fifteen years he had spent laundering their profits. He could almost see the three hundred million dollars in stained currency flowing through the accounts of Adam Industries like a slow poison. Now, everything was at risk because Eleanor had handed the evidence to Julian Blackwood.Victor’s hands shook beneath the thin hospital blanket. He had tried to reach Marcus Vanderbilt a dozen times using
The Exposure
Sophia Castellano pressed the publish button at 6:47 AM, precisely as the opening bell rang on the East Coast financial markets. Her investigative report appeared on the National Business Report website with a headline that commanded immediate attention:"THE VANDERBILT SYNDICATE: Money Laundering Through Legitimate Business - An Investigation"The digital counter moved with staggering speed. By the time most professionals reached for their first refill of coffee, the article had reached half a million views. By 8 AM, that number climbed past two million. Sophia knew that by noon, every major news desk in the country would be scrambling to follow her lead.She had invested three grueling weeks into this investigation using files provided by an anonymous source. While she suspected the documents originated from Julian Blackwood, he had maintained a strategic silence when she questioned him. The evidence was irrefutable. It contained meticulous financi
The Night the Empire Fell
The federal agents entered Victor's hospital room at exactly eleven o'clock at night. Agent Rebecca Torres walked at the front, with two United States Marshals on either side of her and another FBI agent holding the warrant file close to his chest.Victor had drifted into a light, drugged sleep. The heart monitor kept up its steady rhythm in the otherwise silent room. The door opening and the sudden presence of people pulled him back to awareness. His eyes opened wide. Confusion hit first, then fear."Victor Adam," Rebecca said. Her voice stayed level and businesslike. "I'm Special Agent Rebecca Torres with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. We have a warrant for your arrest. The charges include conspiracy to commit money laundering, racketeering, and providing material support to an organized criminal enterprise.""What? No. Wait. I'm already in custody. I'm here as a material witness.""You were listed as a material witness," Rebecca said. She gave a small nod to one of the marsh
Assassination
The safe house sat tucked in a forgotten corner of the industrial district, a plain concrete building that looked like every other warehouse around it. Julian arrived just after seven in the morning in an unmarked sedan, driven by one of Ethan's quiet, watchful security men, while three lawyers from the Blackwood Consortium followed close behind in their own car, briefcases already heavy with documents.Inside, FBI Agent Rebecca Torres waited with her partner Michael Davis and two federal prosecutors, all of them already settled around the long table in the windowless conference room. Blackout curtains blocked every scrap of daylight, and the low hum of signal jammers filled the air so no phone, no hidden device, no stray transmission could reach the outside world.Julian stepped into the room, and Rebecca rose immediately, extending her hand across the table."Mr. Blackwood. Thank you for agreeing to meet."He took her hand with a firm, steady grip. "Agent Torres. I understand you'v