The Marshal Unleashed at Midnight

Chapter 008

Night lay heavy and still, like water settling into silence.

On the wall, the clock ticked steadily toward midnight.

In the darkness of the room, Adrian sat quietly on the sofa, waiting for the hour to strike.

The chime came sharp and sudden. The moment the hands met at twelve, the phone resting on the coffee table erupted into life, buzzing and chiming without pause.

Emails, texts, calls, an avalanche of them. Among the senders were men who held real power, tycoons who ruled whole sectors of business, even underworld bosses whose names alone could silence a room.

Some congratulated Marshal Vance on his return. Some fawned, hoping to curry favor first. Others begged, offering their family fortunes if only the Needle Master would cure them. The variety was almost comical.

Adrian scrolled past all of it without interest.

Then one message, unremarkable at a glance, caught his eye, and he stopped.

It was from Sterling Hale, the richest man in Goldhaven. "Marshal, all assets have been arranged as instructed. When would you like to take control?"

Adrian considered for a moment before issuing his first order since reclaiming his old identity. "Set Natalie's factory aside. Buy up and control every steel production line in the city, then wait for my next instruction."

He allowed himself a faint, humorless smile. So they wanted to cut Natalie off? He would choke off every source of raw material feeding Roarke Group in Goldhaven.

Let them try sourcing from out of town. Let them watch the shipping costs eat them alive. He'd see who ended up in tears by the end of it.

The next day Adrian arrived at the mill to find Natalie outside the front gate, phone pressed to her ear.

"Mr. Chambers, your order has already gone into production. Canceling now puts us in a very difficult position. We're willing to lower the price, if you'd just reconsider... Hello? Hello?"

She barely had time to lower the phone before dialing again. "Mr. Mercer, about the remaining balance, I understand it isn't due yet, but we're in urgent need of the funds right now. I hope you can understand our position. Please, don't hang up. Wait, just one moment."

The third call came no easier. "Mr. Lowell, we are willing to sell the mill, but the price you're offering is simply unreasonable. What? You want it lower still? Are you deliberately trying to squeeze us dry?"

Her face was pale by the time she ended the last call. She let out a weary breath.

It was only then that she noticed Adrian standing a short distance away, watching her in silence.

"You heard all that, I assume," she said.

Natalie stared down at the ground, her voice edged with bitterness. "Besides Roarke, every other company we've worked with has called to cancel their contracts too."

"Camille and Julian arranged this, didn't they."

Adrian's smile stayed calm, untroubled. "Don't worry about it. Soon enough, Roarke will be the one begging you for supply. You put me in charge of business development, after all. I can't keep freeloading off you. Before the day is over, I'll bring this factory more orders than it can handle."

Natalie had no idea how to respond to that.

To her, Adrian was bragging again, making promises he could not keep.

In Sterling's office, the richest man in Goldhaven poured tea himself, his posture deferential.

"Sir, everything you asked of me has been taken care of."

He presented the teacup with both hands, keeping his voice low and respectful as he cautiously asked, "May I ask what you intend to do next?"

Adrian took a sip of the tea, letting its warmth linger before setting the cup down with a satisfied nod. "Good. You've been quick to get things done."

"From here on, make sure you control the supply lines to these steel mills tightly. Not one of them is to do business with the Roarke family. Understood?" He did not look up.

"And while you're at it, consolidate every recent order from these companies and transfer all of it over to Natalie's mill."

He slowly turned his teacup a quarter turn on the desk before speaking. "I want you to hand over your existing steel supply contracts to me as well, and from now on, all of the Hale family's steel orders will go through Natalie's factory."

Sterling nodded repeatedly. "Of course. I'll make sure it's taken care of immediately."

Although curiosity gnawed at him, Sterling didn't dare ask any questions. The young man sitting before him possessed a level of power and influence that Sterling couldn't begin to fathom, and he suspected there might not be a single person across all of Valdoria capable of standing against him.

If Adrian could lift a finger to make a man the richest in Goldhaven, he could as easily send him crashing back down.

Sterling had spent enough years in business to know how disaster followed loose lips. As a pawn in Marshal Vance's game, his only task was to obey, not question.

"Oh, one more thing," Adrian said, glancing up as though something had just occurred to him. "Do you have any dealings with Roarke Construction?"

"We do," Sterling answered.

Sterling thought it over for a moment. "Actually, the Hale family does have a small construction project that's Roarke Construction's responsibility. The work's been going on for two months now. They were supposed to finish last week, but they're still not done."

Delays were common in construction. Deadlines had some give, and when a project ran late, the two parties usually worked something out.

But it was clear Adrian had no intention of working anything out with the Roarke family.

"Call the group's legal team."

Adrian narrowed his eyes. "Tell the Roarke family that if they don't finish today, they can expect to be sued."

"Understood. I'll get on it right away."

Sterling hesitated, then spoke carefully. "Marshal Vance, forgive my asking, but did the Roarke family offend you somehow? I happen to know they recently had someone pull strings to get an invitation to the Marshal's Return Gala. Should I revoke their admission?"

"Good thing you mentioned it, I'd nearly forgotten."

A faint smile tugged at the corner of Adrian's mouth as he gave his next instruction. "Remove the Roarke family from the guest list, and make sure no one finds out about it."

The other man immediately nodded in agreement. "I'll take care of it without letting a word get out."

Just as the two men were wrapping up their conversation, Adrian's phone suddenly rang, and the caller ID showed Natalie.

"Adrian, where are you? Something's happened at the mill!"

The panic in her voice came through clearly even over the phone, and Adrian was on his feet before she finished speaking. "What's wrong, Natalie? Slow down and tell me."

"It's, it's Camille!"

Natalie's voice cracked, thick with tears. "She brought a group of people to the mill. They're smashing everything, beating people, we can't stop them..."

Adrian's face went rigid. Without another word, he grabbed Sterling's steel contract and the five hundred thousand dollar deposit and bolted straight for the steel mill.

By the time he arrived, the place had already descended into chaos.

Dozens of thickset men were tearing through the mill under Camille's direction, flipping over equipment, smashing whatever stood in their path.

The workers had taken a beating. They lay scattered across the ground, bruised and bleeding. The sight turned Adrian's stomach.

Natalie and Lorraine were huddled in a corner. Tear tracks streaked Natalie's face, and Lorraine had taken a slap hard enough to leave her left cheek swollen and red.

Rage lit through Adrian's blood. He walked through the factory gates one slow step at a time, his eyes cold, murder radiating off him.

"Adrian?"

Lorraine flushed at the sight of him, her voice breaking. "You actually have the nerve to come back! What did our family ever do to you, that you still won't leave us alone!"

"Get out, just get out! Is watching Natalie suffer the only thing that makes you happy?"

Adrian said nothing. He swept a brief, flat glance over the two women, and seeing that Natalie seemed unharmed, felt a measure of tension ease in his chest.

The thugs traded glances with one another before closing in around him in a loose circle.

"Twenty-three of them."

Adrian rolled his shoulders once, his expression unreadable. "Since you're all so eager to throw your lives away, I suppose I can help with that."

"Adrian, don't fight them, you'll get hurt!"

Natalie's eyes went wide with alarm. "Just go, call the police..."

"The police? Ha, you actually think you can call the police?"

Camille, seated on a nearby couch, arched an eyebrow and let out a mocking laugh. "Our partnership's over, the order's void. Is it so wrong for me to come collect my deposit back? And you, Natalie, owing a debt and giving me attitude on top of it? Smashing up your mill is me being generous."

"Full of yourself, aren't you, Adrian? We still have an old score to settle, and now you want to play hero for this little tramp too?"

"Boys, get him! Cripple this punk for me, let him learn exactly what happens to men who cross me!"