Chapter 5 - Cracks in the Glass
The fall of Gavin Barrett was not a quiet event; it was a spectacular, bloody public execution.
Within forty-eight hours of the gala, the news of Summit's bankruptcy dominated every financial network. The board of directors turned on Gavin like starving wolves, demanding answers he didn't have.
From my new office on the top floor of the Apex Tower, I watched the chaos unfold on multiple screens.
"He's barricaded himself in his office," Arthur Pendelton said, taking a sip of his coffee. "His credit lines are frozen. The banks are calling in their loans."
"And Celina?" I asked, signing a stack of acquisition papers.
"Her country club membership was revoked this morning," Alexander answered, walking into my office with a satisfied smirk. "Turns out, she had racked up half a million dollars in gambling debts, assuming her son would pay them off. The loan sharks are already circling her."
I felt a dark satisfaction blooming in my chest.
They had thrown me out into the rain with nothing. Now, they were drowning in a storm of their own making.
But bankruptcy wasn't enough.
I didn't just want to take Gavin's money. I wanted to take his freedom. I still hadn't forgotten the text message from Lena, or the mysterious circumstances surrounding my father's car crash.
"We need to apply pressure on the weakest link," I said, leaning back in my leather chair. "Lena."
Lena was a creature of greed. She had stayed with Gavin because he promised her a throne. Now that the throne was crumbling, her loyalty would fracture.
We started the psychological warfare.
I arranged for anonymously leaked documents to reach Lena's desk. The documents suggested that Gavin was planning to throw her under the bus, framing her for the corporate fraud to save himself.
Then, I had Alexander's people freeze Lena's personal offshore accounts.
Panic is a beautiful catalyst.
By the end of the week, the cracks in the glass shattered.
Gavin and Lena were caught on camera having a screaming match in the lobby of their apartment building. Lena threw a diamond ring at his face, yelling that she wouldn't go to prison for his mistakes.
"She's breaking," Alexander observed as we watched the leaked footage.
"We just need one more push," I murmured.
I picked up my phone and dialed a number I hadn't called in months.
"Hello?" Lena's voice snapped on the other end, frantic and exhausted.
"Meet me at the pier in one hour," I said calmly. "Or the police get the dashcam footage from the day my father died."
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I hung up before she could respond.
I didn't actually have the footage. It was a bluff. But a guilty conscience would fill in the blanks.
