By evening, the Pierce mansion felt like a different place.Executives walked from room to room with their phones pressed to their ears, pacing the marble floor, sitting on the stairs and staring at their screens. "Please, check again," a director begged into his phone. "Our account number is correct. Yes, I will wait."He waited. Then his face fell."What do you mean, access denied?"In the next room, another man shouted at his bank. "We have been your client for thirty years! You cannot just cut us off!"The answer was the same everywhere. The corporate accounts were inaccessible. The credit facilities were recalled and as for the loans, they were due now.Nobody could explain how it all fell apart so fast. Nine hours ago, the Pierce Group was a proud local company. Now it could not pay a single bill.In the family study, Old Mrs. Pierce sat behind a heavy wooden desk. Papers covered the whole surface. Balance sheets, loan agreements, even payroll reports.Her lawyer stood across f

The next morning, Ethan sat behind a wide black desk in his private executive office. Floor-to-ceiling windows showed the whole financial district. A tablet lay in his hands as he scrolled through it slowly, going through investment portfolios, corporate assets etc. Ethan was going through them like he was reading morning news. He was not thinking about the Pierce family or even Chloe at all, what happened the previous day and the day before, was already done. A knock sounded at the door.Ethan tapped the tablet. A small window opened, showing the hallway outside through the security camera. Sarah stood there, holding her tablet against her chest.He tapped another button, the heavy door unlocked and swung open.Sarah walked in. Her heels making soft sounds on the dark floor. She stopped a few steps from his desk and bowed her head."Good morning, Supreme Chairman.""Good morning, Sarah."<

The creditors' deadline had come and gone as formal legal action had begun. The Pierce Group was now in default, and the lenders were moving to seize whatever they could.Inside Julian Montgomery's private residence, the argument had already been going for ten minutes."Do you understand what is happening to my family?" Chloe shouted. She stood in the middle of the living room with her arms shaking. Her makeup was smeared. "We are losing everything, Julian! The accounts, the credit lines, the loans. Everything! And you just sit there!"Julian sat on the leather sofa with a glass of whiskey in his hand. He did not look at her."I am not sitting there," he took a sip. “I am thinking.""You have been thinking for two days! My family is collapsing and you have said nothing. What do you plan to do?""What do you want me to do?""Something! Anything!" Frustration mixed with anger evident on Chloe's faceJulian slammed the glass on the table causing Whiskey to splashed across the marble.

In the quiet courtroom, the Pierce family sat in the front rows.Old Mrs. Pierce held her silver cane in both hands. Victoria sat beside her, pale and stiff. Herman stared at the floor. Richard and Oliver sat behind them. Chloe sat at the end of the row, her fingers twisting in her lap.The creditors' lawyers sat on the other side. They were calm, they had their files ready.The judge looked down at his papers. Then he looked up."The court has reached its final judgment," he muttered “The Pierce family's failure to settle its outstanding liabilities, despite the deadline granted by its creditors, leaves this court with no reasonable alternative."Old Mrs. Pierce's hands tightened on her cane."The family mansion and the corporate headquarters of Pierce Group are hereby surrendered to the bankruptcy estate for liquidation and recovery of outstanding debts."Victoria gasped, Chloe closed her eyes, this was difficult for any of them to digest. "Furthermore," the judge continued, "based

The house was small. It had two floors, a narrow staircase, and a living room with a cheap fabric sofa. The walls were plain white, and the windows were old. A single ceiling fan turned slowly overhead.It was nothing like the Pierce mansion.Since the court had surrendered the mansion and the headquarters to the bankruptcy estate, the family had moved into this middle-class home on the edge of the city. It was the only place they could afford. Even that was rented under Herman's name, with the last cash they could find.Old Mrs. Pierce sat in the living room with her silver cane across her lap. She was very quiet, Victoria sat beside her, holding a cup of tea that had gone cold.Nobody spoke, the silence was heavy. Every person in the house felt the same shame. They had lost their name, their power, and their home. And they had to live with it every single day.The front door suddenly slammed open.Richard stormed in. His face was red, his jacket was half off his shoulder."This i