Chapter 5 - The Cornered Rats
Desperation makes people stupid.
Stripped of his company, his income, and his pride, Daniel became dangerous.
Two days after the boardroom coup, I was picking Noah up from his private school. We were staying in a secure, gated rental property that Evelyn had arranged.
As Noah climbed into the backseat, a black sedan sped into the parking lot, blocking my SUV.
Daniel jumped out. He looked deranged. Unshaven, bloodshot eyes, reeking of stale alcohol.
“Claire!” he yelled, marching toward my window.
My heart spiked, but my training kicked in. I locked the doors and rolled the window down just an inch.
“Drive away, Daniel,” I warned him.
“You ruined my life!” he screamed, banging his fist against the reinforced glass. “You took my money! You took my son!”
Noah whimpered in the backseat.
That was his biggest mistake. He scared my child.
The protective mother-bear instinct, far more potent than any anger I felt about the cheating, surged through my veins.
“Look at me, Daniel,” I said, my voice dangerously low.
He stopped banging and glared at me through the slit in the window.
“You ruined your own life,” I hissed. “You chose to steal. You chose to cheat. If you ever come near my son again, the financial ruin will be the least of your problems. I will bury you so deep you won't see daylight.”
“I want to see my son!” he cried, playing the victim.
“You don't care about Noah,” I stated coldly. “You just want leverage. But you have none.”
I pressed the button on my dashboard.
The private security detail Evelyn had hired—who had been tailing me in an unmarked car—suddenly pulled up behind Daniel’s sedan.
Two massive men stepped out.
Daniel looked at them, then back at me. He backed away, his bravado crumbling.
“This isn't over, Claire,” he threatened weakly.
“It is for you,” I replied, rolling up the window and driving around his car.
That afternoon, Evelyn filed for a permanent restraining order.
Daniel had officially dug his own grave.
Meanwhile, Vanessa was realizing that being the mistress of a broke, disgraced man wasn't quite as glamorous as she had envisioned.
With her brother’s shell company exposed, she tried to flee.
She booked a one-way ticket to Cancun.
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But when she got to the airport, her passport flagged an alert.
She wasn't going anywhere. The federal net was closing in.
