Chapter 5 - Corporate Suicide
The screen on the refrigerator displayed more than just personal texts between Marcus and Chloe mocking my appearance. It displayed years of corporate embezzlement, fraudulent expense reports, and illegal kickbacks funneling funds from Marcus’s firm directly into accounts registered under Chloe’s maiden name.
“My God,” Marcus whispered, staring at the screen in absolute horror. “That’s… that’s confidential. How did you get that?”
“Vance hacked your server before we even parked in the driveway,” Jax said smoothly, adjusting his cufflinks. “And as of five minutes ago, an anonymous package containing those exact files was delivered to your CEO’s private residence, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and your company’s internal compliance board.”
Marcus lunged forward as if to slam the laptop shut, but Beckett caught his wrist in a grip of steel and twisted his arm gently behind his back, forcing him down against the counter.
“You… you ruined me,” Marcus choked out, tears of pure rage and terror springing to his eyes. “That job took me twelve years to build! I’m a vice president!”
“You were a vice president,” Kane corrected coldly. “Ten minutes ago, your CEO voted unanimously via emergency conference call to terminate your employment, freeze your pension, and initiate criminal fraud charges against you.”
Marcus let out a ragged, desperate sound. He looked at me, his eyes wide, pleading with the woman he had spent years trying to break.
“Elena… please,” he whimpered. “We were married. We built this life together. Have mercy.”
“Mercy?” I repeated the word slowly, the memory of Maya’s bleeding back flashing behind my eyes. “You told me thirty lashes was mercy, Marcus. You gave an eight-year-old child a choice between homelessness and physical abuse.”
I turned to Kane. “Is the extraction team ready?”
“Outside,” Kane replied. “Private transport. No record, no trial by local authorities. They’re taking him to a federal holding facility in upstate New York where his white-collar buddies won't be able to buy him out.”
Cole and Beckett hauled Marcus up by his arms, kicking and screaming like a cornered animal.
“Get your hands off me! Elena! ELENA!”
May you like
His frantic screams echoed down the marble hallway, fading rapidly as they dragged him out through the front doors and tossed him into the back of an unmarked van.
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