Chapter 15: The Debt Collectors Arrive
Ethan dropped his wire cutters, his knees buckling in absolute terror.
“N-Natalie?! How… how did you know I was here?!” Ethan cried out, his voice trembling violently.
Natalie walked over gracefully, her heels clicking on the damp concrete.
“Ethan, did you really think Sinclair Consortium’s intelligence team wouldn’t monitor your every movement?” Natalie sneered softly. “You bought wire cutters from a hardware store two hours ago. We’ve been recording your entire sabotage attempt on 4K night-vision cameras.”
Chief Prosecutor Raymond stepped forward, slapping heavy steel handcuffs onto Ethan’s wrists.
“Ethan Carter, you are under arrest for attempted premeditated murder, corporate sabotage, and conspiracy to commit fraud,” Raymond announced sternly.
“No! Wait! I was framed! It was Chloe! Chloe made me do it!” Ethan screamed hysterically as the officers dragged him toward the police car. “Natalie! Please forgive me! I’m your husband!”
“Ex-husband,” Natalie corrected, handing the official court-stamped divorce certificate to Prosecutor Raymond. “The court finalized our divorce two hours ago. You leave with nothing.”
Meanwhile, back at Carter Group headquarters, Chloe was packing cash into her leather suitcase when the door opened.
Four burly debt collectors from the underworld, hired by Ethan’s unpaid black-market lenders, barged into the office!
“Where’s Ethan Carter?!” the lead collector growled, cracking his knuckles.
“I-I don’t know! I have nothing to do with him!” Chloe shrieked, backing away.
The collector grabbed her leather suitcase, unzipped it, and saw the stacks of cash. “Well, look at what we have here. This five hundred thousand will cover the interest on Ethan’s loan. As for the principal balance… you’re coming with us!”
“No! Help! Police!” Chloe screamed as she was dragged into the dark corridor.
Suggested stories
Thomas “Tom” Miller (48), a master bespoke tailor in historic downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania, spent three grueling months hand-stitching an exquisite silk-wool bridal suit and cathedral ensemble for his stepdaughter, Sabrina (23). Tom raised Sabrina as his own flesh and blood since she was one yea…
Read storyIn the affluent enclave of Greenwich, Connecticut, widower Arthur Vance—CEO of Vance Precision Industries—fights to keep his household together following the tragic death of his wife Clara eighteen months ago. In his grief and demanding executive schedule, Arthur married Elena, an elegant society fi…
Read story“If You’re So Smart, Then Translate It!” — The Mafia Boss Mocked the Waitress, Then Froze in Shock.Lydia Hart is a 24-year-old computational linguistics doctoral candidate at Columbia University, secretly moonlighting as a VIP waitress at The Obsidian—an unmarked elite underground supper club in Man…
Read storyReed Ashford, thirty-eight, is the undisputed sovereign of the Ashford syndicate, controlling the ports, shipping corridors, and luxury nightlife of the Eastern Seaboard. Feared for his icy calm and absolute authority, Reed has never raised his voice in fifteen years of rule. But behind fortified wa…
Read storyTwo years after clawing her way out of an emotionally abusive, financially controlling marriage to mid-level commercial developer Nathan Brooks, thirty-two-year-old Vivienne Vance has rebuilt her dignity from scratch. Operating Vance Studio, a boutique architectural interior design firm in Chicago’s…
Read storyKendrick Ashford (36) is the undisputed Don of the East Coast Ashford Syndicate and CEO of Ashford Global Enterprises. Feared for his cold lethality and iron-fisted rule, Kendrick lives only for his five-year-old daughter, Penny, who has remained completely mute since witnessing the brutal assassina…
Read story