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Chapter Thirty Eight
Chapter 38 The world had gone from bad to apocalyptic in the space of one news bulletin. The shattered ceramic on the floor suddenly seemed prophetic. The police were hunting Mickey and Lenny, and that meant Darren was done. Completely, irreversibly finished. He stumbled away from the wrecked coffee mug, collapsing into the nearest chair. His heart was slamming against his ribs so hard it felt like it was trying to claw its way out of his chest. "No, no, no," he whispered, rocking back and forth. "They can't get caught. They absolutely cannot get caught." Mickey and Lenny knew everything. They weren't just debt collectors; they were the gatekeepers to a whole network of shady, low-grade criminal activities that Darren had used to keep his head barely above water for years. It wasn't just loan sharking they were into. They were running small, dirty cash exchanges, moving money for people who couldn't use banks, and distributing low-grade prescription pills on the side for quick c
Chapter Thirty Seven
Chapter 37 Kaleen leaned back in the plush leather chair in his private, soundproof office, the silence a welcome luxury after the manufactured chaos of the conference hall. Jordan, his Head of Operations, was pacing the expensive rug, still buzzing with a mixture of professional awe and thinly veiled shock. “I still don’t get it, sir,” Jordan admitted, running a hand through his perfectly styled hair. “The timing. The sheer volume of data. The audio recording of the loan sharks! How did you coordinate all that, let alone acquire the footage of the assault before it aired? It was brilliant, but I need to know the logistics. We didn't file a single motion.” Kaleen picked up a glass of water, swirling the ice cubes, his expression utterly serene. He smiled, a slight, humorless curve of his lips. “Logistics? There were no logistics, Jordan,” he said, his voice easy, almost philosophical. “I just stepped out of the way. I told you, I have faith in the universe, in the law of conseq
Chapter Thirty Six
Chapter 36The phone call from her lawyer, Mr. Henderson, was short, sharp, and riddled with a professional tension that made Riley instantly uneasy. He didn’t mince words.“Riley, I need you here. Now. Drop everything. This has gone sideways, and we need to reassess our entire strategy, or what’s left of it. Get to the office.”Hanging up, Riley felt a renewed surge of cold dread. She’d spent the morning staring at her phone, watching Darren’s public obliteration, frozen by the knowledge that Kaleen was far more dangerous than she'd ever imagined.But Henderson’s urgent tone suggested the fallout was actively damaging her.She pulled on a jacket, trying to look unremarkable, and slipped out of her apartment building. She hadn't been outside since the leaks dropped.The moment she hit the sidewalk, she understood why Henderson was panicking.The town wasn't just talking about it; they were obsessed. It was an infectious, righteous anger that seemed to hang in the crisp air.She heard
Chapter Thirty Five
Chapter 35Darren didn’t move, didn’t even breathe, just stared at the smashed coffee mug on the floor and the scrolling headline about the acquisition. The entire company, his income stream, his existence as a writer—gone.Erased. All because Kaleen had the kind of disposable cash needed to buy and obliterate a small publishing house just to deliver a final, vicious slap.But the television screen, that constant, malevolent presence, wasn’t done with him yet.The main segment shifted from the corporate news to a local crime report. The anchor’s grave face filled the screen.Then the image changed to grainy, shaky footage taken from a high-mounted security camera on the side of a building.It was the alleyway.He saw himself in the too-big grey hoodie, backing away, hands up in a futile gesture of defense. He saw Mickey and Lenny towering over him.The video was silent, but the news channel had done something worse. They had used a high-quality microphone to record the playback of the
Chapter Thirty Four
Chapter 34The sound was a relentless, high-pitched scream, and it wasn’t coming from the TV anymore. It was coming from Darren’s own head, amplified by the sheer, deafening noise flooding in from every corner of the cheap apartment.His laptop was open, the live stream still running, but the image of Kaleen's smug, triumphant face was buried under a dozen open tabs.He was in the kitchen, half-crazed, one hand gripping the counter until his knuckles were bone-white, the other holding his phone, which was vibrating so hard it felt like it was going to shatter."My name," he kept muttering, eyes darting from the laptop screen to the TV flashing silently in the corner, then back to the torrent of hate pouring over his social media feeds. "My name! It's everywhere!"Every single news channel—local, national, even the ridiculous online gossip streams—was running the same story. Not the one about Kaleen, but the one about him.The headline wasn't subtle; it was a bludgeon: Troll Exposed: T
Chapter Thirty Three
The questions didn’t stop.Reporters circled Kaelen like predators, microphones thrust forward, pens scribbling furiously, cameras flashing nonstop. Every word, every gesture, every glance he made was being captured, broadcasted, dissected.“Mr. Kaelen, now that Darren has been caught, will you be pressing charges?” one reporter asked, her tone sharp, eager for a reaction.Kaelen’s gaze swept over the crowd. His voice was calm, deliberate. “Press charges? Not immediately,” he said. “I believe justice comes in many forms, and the law is not always the first step.”Another reporter leaned closer. “So you’re saying you won’t take him to court at all?”Kaelen shook his head slightly. “I am saying that accountability is more than legal paperwork. Darren harmed me, yes, but the damage isn’t measured solely in lawsuits. It’s measured in acknowledgment. In truth.”A reporter pressed further, voice edged with curiosity. “Acknowledgment? You mean a public apology?”Kaelen’s eyes locked onto he
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