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Chapter 35.5: Jane's Desperate Attempts
Author: EMILY EVA
last update2025-09-11 00:58:52

Jane Richardson sat in her car outside the Nixon City Chamber of Commerce building, staring at the elegant banner announcing "Business Ethics in the Modern Era: A Leadership Forum." She'd discovered the event through Mac's LinkedIn profile, one of the few social media accounts he maintained, probably for professional appearances.

The irony of Mac giving a keynote speech about business ethics wasn't lost on her. The man who had secretly destroyed her family's company while lying about his identity was going to lecture other business leaders about integrity.

Jane checked her reflection in the rearview mirror one more time. She'd spent her last hundred dollars on a professional blowout and borrowed a designer dress from her sister, hoping to look like she belonged among Nixon City's business elite rather than like the desperate ex-wife she'd become.

The hotel ballroom was packed with successful professionals, the kind of crowd Jane used to navigate easily when she was Mrs. Mac Clement an
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  • Chapter 41: First Attack

    Mac stood in his penthouse at dawn, surrounded by monitors displaying real-time financial data that looked like a digital battlefield. Numbers cascaded down screens in red and green, each one representing millions of dollars and the livelihoods of thousands of people caught in the crossfire of his war against Harold Thompson."Phase one is complete," Marcus Webb reported, his voice carrying the exhaustion of someone who had worked through the night. "We've called in debts from seventeen companies in Thompson's network. Total immediate pressure: $340 million."Mac nodded, his eyes never leaving the screens showing Thompson Bank's stock price. It had opened down 23% and was falling steadily as automated trading systems reacted to the coordinated assault on the bank's business partners."What about the regulatory triggers?" Mac asked."FDA inspection teams are en route to three Thompson pharmaceutical subsidiaries. SEC has opened investigations into suspicious trading patterns at Thompso

  • Chapter 40.5: Jane Is Desperation

    Jane sat in her childhood bedroom at 11 PM, laptop balanced on her knees, scrolling through news websites with the desperate focus of someone searching for any mention of the man who had destroyed her life. She'd been doing this every night for weeks, checking business journals, social media, local news, hoping to find some crack in Mac's perfect new existence.That's when she found the headline that made her heart stop: "Federal Investigation into Thompson Bank Reveals Decades-Old Murder Case."Jane's hands trembled as she read the article. Thompson Bank was under federal investigation for financial crimes, but buried in the third paragraph was a detail that made her stomach clench: "The investigation has also reopened questions about the 2005 deaths of business leaders James and Elizabeth Clement, whose car accident is now being reviewed as a potential homicide connected to Thompson Bank's criminal activities."James and Elizabeth Clement. Mac's parents.Jane scrolled frantically thr

  • Chapter 40: The Point of No Return

    Mac stood in his home office at 3 AM, surrounded by documents, photographs, and strategic plans that represented twenty years of careful preparation. Marcus Webb sat across from him, both men looking like they'd aged a decade in the past week."Thompson knows," Marcus said without preamble. "Our sources confirm he's identified you as Mac Clement and connected you to the systematic attacks on his operations."Mac nodded grimly. He'd expected this moment to come eventually. "How much does he know?""Everything. Your real identity, your parents' murder, your control of Golden Enterprise, and most importantly..." Marcus paused, his expression troubled. "He knows about Shirley's heritage."Mac's blood ran cold. "What about her heritage?""Shirley is Thompson's granddaughter. Her mother was Lisa Thompson, Harold's niece. Robert changed her name and hid her identity to protect her from the family's criminal associations."The room seemed to tilt around Mac as the implications hit him. The wom

  • Chapter 39: Mac's Parents' Murder

    Mac sat in his private study at midnight, the city lights of Nixon City twinkling below like distant stars. Marcus Webb had called an hour ago with a single sentence that had made Mac's blood run cold: "I have the complete file on your parents' murder."Now Marcus sat across from Mac's desk, a thick manila folder between them that contained twenty years of carefully gathered intelligence. Marcus looked older than his fifty-five years, the weight of keeping these secrets clearly having taken its toll."Are you sure you want to hear this?" Marcus asked quietly. "Once you know the details, there's no going back to uncertainty."Mac's hands were steady as he reached for the folder. "I've been waiting twenty years for the truth. I'm ready."Marcus opened the file and pulled out the first document, a payment authorization from Thompson Bank's private accounts. "Thompson Bank paid Nightfall Services two million dollars on March 15th, 2005. The payment was processed three days before your par

  • Chapter 38: Thompson's Discovery

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  • Chapter 37: Shirley's Investigation

    Shirley stood outside Mac's building at 2 PM, watching his black sedan disappear into downtown traffic. He'd told her the meeting with potential investors would take at least three hours, giving her a window of opportunity she'd been planning for since reading her father's investigator report two days ago.Her hands shook slightly as she used Mac's spare key card to access his penthouse. She'd never violated someone's privacy like this before, but the questions eating at her since her father's warning had become unbearable. She needed answers, even if finding them meant crossing lines she'd never imagined crossing.Mac's home office looked the same as always, sleek, organized, expensive. But now Shirley examined it with different eyes, looking for evidence of the lies her father claimed Mac had been telling.She started with the obvious places. Mac's desk drawers yielded appointment calendars, legal documents, and business correspondence that seemed normal enough. But as Shirley read

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