2026-08-04 11:33:47
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Chapter 10. The Debt Collector’s Knock
Beep... beep.The number you have dialed is currently out of reach.Robert’s trembling hand finally gave out. The phone slipped from his fingers and hit the thick carpet with a dull thud.He leaned his head back against the sofa, his breathing still rough and ragged. His face was deathly pale after the heart attack earlier that afternoon. Refusing to go to the hospital had been the most reckless decision he had ever made, but he knew reporters and law enforcement were already swarming every ward in the city.Their luxurious home now felt cold and suffocating.“He blocked my calls,” Robert whispered, his voice hoarse and strained. “Even General Harris... he blocked me.”Martha, curled up at the far end of the sofa, hugged her knees tightly. Her makeup had long since been washed away by tears that had not stopped since the afternoon.“No one?” she murmured hollowly, staring blankly at the glass table. “All your contacts, all our business connections, none of them will pick up?”“They’re
Chapter 9. On the Brink of Ruin
The steel door was already halfway open before Robert’s hand even touched it. He froze at the threshold. His mind needed a few extra seconds to process what his eyes were seeing. The metal shelves inside the vault stood hollow, the velvet boxes that were supposed to hold gold bars now scattered across the floor like trash.He stepped forward in a daze, his fingers brushing against the cold top shelf, as if hoping his eyes were deceiving him and the items were still there. Empty. Only a thin layer of dust clung to his fingertips.No. Impossible.The words screamed in his mind, but his lips were too numb to make a sound.The insane debt figures from last night’s auction spun wildly in his head. The bank’s phone calls. The deadlines. He had come down to this study at dawn to retrieve land certificates as his last collateral. Now? He had nothing.Panic crept in as a cold sensation that spread quickly from the back of his neck through his entire body. The air in the room suddenly felt too
Chapter 8. Debt Behind the Auction
“Who dared to put this piece of junk on my desk?”An old wooden box sat on Robert’s work table, worn and unmarked, with no sender, no address.Robert stared at it, his brow furrowed.“I didn’t see anyone enter your office,” Liam replied, leaning casually against the doorway.“Call the head of security now. The building’s protection is getting more useless by the day.”Instead of calling, Liam stepped inside. “Why not open it first? Maybe it’s a congratulatory gift from a colleague after last night’s funds were released.”Robert snorted, then grabbed a pure silver letter opener and pried the lid open.Crack.The lid came loose. At the same time, a sharp metallic, rancid smell filled the air, tainting the room’s cool atmosphere. Robert’s breath caught, his eyes widening in shock.Inside, stacks of paper lay submerged in a pool of thick, dark red liquid. But it wasn’t the liquid that made Robert’s hands tremble violently. It was the letterhead emerging from the soaked documents.They wer
Chapter 7. The Rat Behind the Wall
The basement smelled of dampness and cigarette smoke. Liam pressed his fingers against his temples, staring blankly at the rows of red code flashing rapidly across the monitor.On the concrete floor, the Consortium hacker stopped typing. The sharp clatter of his mechanical keyboard fell silent.“Did you break through?” Liam demanded.The skinny man swallowed hard. “The Apex system... it is not what we expected. Someone is reversing our attack.”“You said it would take five minutes.”“There is someone in there holding it off manually!” the hacker snapped, his fingers flying frantically over the keys again.“Damn it. Damn it. They have planted a tracker.”Liam froze. “They know we are here?”“In two minutes, the coordinates of this house will be locked in.”A curse slipped from Liam’s mouth. He kicked a stack of cardboard boxes beside the desk, sending their contents scattering across the floor. The cramped room suddenly felt suffocating.“Move the money now,” Liam hissed.“The secure r
Chapter 6. The Illusion of the Summit
Green numbers glowed brightly across the digital market screen mounted on the wall of Robert’s office. The graph was not merely climbing. It was surging upward in a sharp spike without correction. Sterling Group’s stock had just reached its highest point in five years.The pop of a champagne cork shattered the tension that had hung thick in the air since yesterday. Robert poured the golden liquid into two glasses. His hand trembled slightly, no longer from panic, but from intoxicating euphoria.“One night,” Robert said, sliding a glass toward Liam, his eyes gleaming.“It only took one night to turn everything around.”Liam accepted the glass. He took a slow sip, letting the sweetness and pride wash down his throat.For the first time, Ethan’s shadow no longer felt like a noose tightening around his neck. He had proven that he did not need his brother’s dirty tactics to win this game.“That institution saved our necks,” Liam said, the corner of his lips twitching as he suppressed a smi
Chapter 5. Poison Coated in Honey
“How can thousands of tons of our steel be held at the port?”Robert Sterling’s voice did not rise, but the chill in his tone was enough to suffocate the room.Shipping documents were scattered across his mahogany desk. The middle-aged man leaned back, exhaling sharply as his eyes locked onto the young man across from him.Liam said nothing. He lowered his gaze to the marble floor, his fingers unconsciously brushing the edge of his collar, which suddenly felt too tight.“Last night you said the logistics were handled,” Robert pressed. He threw a red folder across the desk. It slid and fell to the floor. “Explain.”“Customs is holding the permit. They suddenly demanded documents with an official wet stamp from the ministry,” Liam replied, forcing his voice to remain steady. “I met the port chief this morning and offered a cash compensation. He refused.”Robert let out a dry laugh, empty of humor.“Of course he refused. Do you think bribing a high-level bureaucrat is the same as tipping
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