Chapter 4: Stripping the Empire

The next morning, the executive floor of Carter Luxury Group Headquarters was in utter chaos.

Ethan Carter walked into his corner office wearing a white bandage around his neck, his hair still slightly frizzy from the previous night’s electric eel shock. Beside him, Baroness Chloe wore heavy foundation and dark sunglasses to cover her bruised, swollen cheeks.

“Have the viral videos been taken down yet?!” Ethan roared at his Chief PR Manager. “Who leaked that eel clip to social media? It has fifty million views!”

The PR Manager was pale as paper, his hands trembling. “Mr. Carter… taking down the video is the least of our problems! Look at the stock market!”

Ethan turned to the giant wall-mounted trading monitor.

The stock graph of Carter Luxury Group was plunging in a straight vertical red line—falling 40%… 70%… 95%!

*DING! DING! DING!*

Ethan’s phone began ringing incessantly.

He answered the first call. “Hello? Director Vance here—”

“Ethan Carter!” the voice of the Chairman of Royal Imperial Bank screamed over the speaker. “By order of Sinclair Financial Group, your fifty-million-dollar credit line has been canceled! We are freezing all Carter corporate accounts immediately and seizing your headquarters building to cover outstanding loans!”

“W-What?!” Ethan’s blood ran cold. “Sinclair Financial Group? I have no dealings with them!”

Before he could process the call, his Vice President burst into the office without knocking.

“Mr. Carter! Terrible news! The Italian Raw Silk Monopoly, French Dye Suppliers, and Leather Guild have all unilaterally terminated our supply contracts! They said our licensing rights were revoked by the master patent holder!”

“Who is the master patent holder?!” Chloe shrieked, clutching Ethan’s arm.

“Sinclair Financial Group!” the Vice President cried. “Every single silk fabric we use… every trademark patent… was owned by Sinclair! Without their license, we can’t produce a single shirt! All thirty of our flagship boutiques across the kingdom are being shut down by federal marshals right now!”

Ethan felt as if a heavy hammer had smashed into his chest. He staggered back, crashing into his mahogany desk.

“Sinclair… Sinclair…” Ethan babbled, his mind racing wildly. “Why would Sinclair Financial Group destroy me? I’ve never even met the Sinclair President!”

Suddenly, his eye caught the divorce folder sitting on his desk—the folder Natalie had thrown at his face during the gala.

He opened the folder with trembling fingers and looked at the bottom of the signature page.

Written in elegant, flowing silver ink was not the signature of “Natalie Lin”, the humble housewife.

It read: **Natalie Sinclair — Sovereign CEO, Sinclair Financial Group**.

Ethan’s eyes widened in absolute, terrifying horror.

“Natalie… Natalie is… the President of Sinclair Financial Group?!”