RETURN OF THE SHADOW WAR GOD: The Ex-wife's Ruin

The Hundred and Forty Million Dollar Trap

Jaden & Selena POV

The heavy steel blast gate struck the floor with a dull thud that rattled the fillings in Jaden’s teeth. Cordite smoke from Kael's thermite charges hung thick in the air, reeking of sulfur and burnt iron.

The six mercenaries didn't wait for a command. Their thumb safety catches clicked off in unison.

Jaden didn't dive for cover. He leaned into the shotgun's heavy recoil before the lead contractor could pull his trigger.

BOOM.

The 12-gauge slug hit the lead man square in the chest plate, lifting his two-hundred-pound frame off his feet and throwing him back into the second contractor.

Before the remaining four men could adjust their sights, Jaden closed the distance. He grabbed the barrel of an elevated rifle, twisted the frame downward, and drove his right knee hard into the man’s sternum. Ribs cracked under the impact. Jaden spun the contractor’s limp body around, using him as a shield as three burst-fire rounds tore into the tactical vest.

Jaden fired the shotgun once more from behind the human shield. The blast shredded the knee of the third contractor, sending him screaming onto the wet steel deck.

He dropped the empty shotgun, stepped over the falling body, and drove his elbow straight into the fourth contractor’s jaw. The man’s head snapped back, his helmet flying off as he hit the deck unconscious.

The fifth contractor stumbled backward, trying to clear his sidearm, but Jaden grabbed the man's throat with one hand, slamming his head back against the server rack. The metal frame groaned under the impact, and the contractor went limp.

The entire exchange took four seconds.

The vault room fell dead silent, save for the low hum of the server banks and the wet, ragged rasp of Kael’s breathing.

Kael stumbled back into the mainframe console, his face completely drained of color. The silver hard-shell case slipped from his trembling fingers, hitting the floor with a loud clang.

Jaden stepped over the fallen men. His dark suit jacket was torn at the shoulder, a smear of black grease across his jaw, but his breath was steady.

He reached out, his hand clamping around Kael’s throat like a hydraulic vise, driving his stepbrother back against the glowing server array. Kael’s heels lifted two inches off the steel floor.

"You used my private key," Jaden said. His voice was low, devoid of any strain.

Kael choked, his hands clawing uselessly at Jaden's forearms. "It's... it's already through the central clearing house, brother..." Kael gasped, spit running down his chin. "The federal court in the city... filed the debt execution ten minutes ago..."

Jaden’s grip tightened until Kael’s eyes went bloodshot. "Reverse it."

"I can't!" Kael choked out, a terrified laugh bubbling in his throat. "It's an automated transfer! If you force an override from this console without the central bank key, it triggers a total liquidation of Golden Island's reserve vault! You'll destroy the entire Syndicate just to save an ex-wife who spat in your face!"

Jaden stared into Kael’s eyes for three long seconds. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he slammed Kael headfirst into the steel server rack, leaving him cold on the deck.

Jaden pulled the radio from his harness. "Marcus. The blast gate is down. Bring the plasma torch and secure Kael. We're flying back to the city."

Six thousand miles away, cold rain beat relentlessly down on the curb outside the Vance estate.

Selena stood on the wet sidewalk, water dripping from the ends of her ruined hair. Her mother sat on the curb behind her, weeping softly into her silk bathrobe. Victor stood ten feet away, smoking a crushed cigarette he had dug out of his jacket pocket, pacing back and forth like a wild animal.

Selena held the cherrywood ring box tight against her ribs, her knuckles white.

"He's going to prison," Selena muttered to herself, her teeth chattering from the cold. "The moment the real Aureus Chairman sees what Jaden did with his company name, Jaden is going to prison for the rest of his life."

Victor spat onto the asphalt. "Shut up about Jaden! My lawyers aren't answering! Every bank manager in this city has blocked my phone!"

Screeching tires cut through Victor’s rant.

Four black-and-white police cruisers spun around the corner, their sirens wailing as their red and blue strobes sliced through the gray morning rain. Two heavy gray vans bearing the official seal of the Federal Financial Crimes Division followed close behind, cutting off both ends of the residential street.

Victor froze, the cigarette dropping from his mouth into a puddle. "See?! I told you! The authorities are here! They tracked down Jaden's fake filings!"

Selena stepped forward, holding the cherrywood box out in front of her like a shield. "Over here! I have the stolen property! Jaden Stallion left it in my house!"

Eight officers stepped out of the sedans, their dark raincoats glistening.

The lead investigator, a sharp-faced woman with cold gray eyes, unclipped a pair of heavy steel handcuffs from her belt. She didn't even glance at Victor. She walked straight up the driveway toward Selena.

"Selena Vance?" the officer asked, her voice flat over the roar of the rain.

"Yes!" Selena said, pointing frantically at the ring box. "Jaden Stallion was my husband! He stole this from Aureus Capital! He used stolen authority to freeze Victor’s accounts!"

The investigator pulled a folded, stamped warrant from her inner coat pocket. She ignored the ring box completely.

"Selena Vance, you are under arrest for systemic financial fraud, corporate asset stripping, and willful default on a hundred and forty million dollars in federal credit lines."

Selena’s breath hitched. A nervous, hysterical laugh bubbled up her throat. "What? No—you have the wrong name! Victor Vale signed those credit lines! My father's factory—"

"Your name is listed as primary guarantor on the Vance Logistics restructures," the officer interrupted coldly. "Filed under the personal authorization of Jaden Stallion."

Victor backed up three fast steps toward his car. "I didn't sign anything! She handled her family's paperwork! She told me her husband was managing it!"

Selena turned her head slowly, staring at Victor in total shock. "Victor... what are you saying?"

"It was her!" Victor shouted at the officers, holding his hands high in the air. "I'm a victim here! She and her deadbeat ex-husband set this up together to frame my company!"

The female investigator grabbed Selena’s wrist. Cold steel clicked sharp around her skin, wrenching her arm behind her back.

"No! Get off me!" Selena screamed, thrashing wildly against the officer’s grip. The cherrywood box slipped from her fingers, crashing onto the wet pavement. The lid snapped open, and the $28 million blue diamond rolled out into the mud at Victor’s feet. "Jaden did this! Jaden set me up! He's a broke nobody!"

The investigator forced Selena’s second wrist into the iron cuff, locking it tight with a cold metallic snap.

"Jaden Stallion didn't frame you, Miss Vance," the investigator whispered into her ear, shoving her forcefully toward the open back door of the police cruiser. "He just stopped paying your family's bills."