Chapter 8 - The Ex-Husband’s Greedy Mistake
Back in Manhattan, the explosive news of Meridian Capital’s corporate scandal dominated every major financial news broadcast and online tabloid headline.
Sebastian sat in his cramped, messy bachelor apartment, staring blankly at his television screen as his morning coffee grew ice cold.
The news anchor’s voice rang out clearly across the living room, detailing the dramatic arrest of senior executive Margaret Thorne and her daughter Vanessa.
Then, a photograph of the lead auditor who uncovered the multi-million-dollar embezzlement scheme flashed across the screen.
Sebastian nearly choked on his coffee as he stared at the familiar, elegant face of his ex-wife, Norah Bennett.
The caption beneath her image read: "Senior Auditor Norah Castellano-Bennett exposes massive corporate fraud."
Sebastian’s brain stalled as he tried to process the impossible combination of her last name and her staggering professional triumph.
Castellano? The billionaire underworld syndicate leader Luca Castellano?
For five years, Sebastian had convinced himself and everyone around him that Norah was a talentless, pathetic burden who could never survive without him.
He had mocked her financial career, stolen her savings, and thrown her out onto the street with thirty-six dollars in her pocket.
Now, she was not only thriving as a top-tier corporate auditor, but she was legally married to the most feared and powerful man in New York.
Greed and bitter jealousy twisted Sebastian’s mind into a poisonous knot of desperate entitlement.
He convinced himself that because they were technically still legally married—since the final divorce decree had been delayed by a clerical error—he was entitled to a share of her newfound wealth.
Without a moment of hesitation, Sebastian grabbed his cheap jacket and sprinted out of his apartment toward the Meridian Capital headquarters.
He planned to storm into the corporate building, demand a meeting with Norah, and threaten to expose her past marriage if she didn't hand over a massive hush-money settlement.
He arrived at the towering Manhattan skyscraper just as reporters and camera crews were swarming the lobby to cover the fallout.
Strutting past the security desk with feigned confidence, Sebastian cornered Norah’s former department head, demanding to know where his wife could be found.
What Sebastian failed to realize was that Luca Castellano’s private security detail had been monitoring every single individual connected to Norah’s past.
Before Sebastian could even reach the elevator banks, two towering operatives in dark suits grabbed him firmly by both arms.
Sebastian thrashed wildly, screaming at the top of his lungs for everyone in the lobby to hear.
"Let me go!" Sebastian shouted, his voice cracking with panic and arrogance.
"I am Norah Bennett’s lawful husband, and she owes me half of everything she stole from this company!"
The security operatives didn't utter a single word in response to his frantic screaming.
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Instead, they hoisted him off his feet as if he weighed nothing and dragged him out through the revolving glass doors toward a waiting black sedan.
Sebastian was tossed brutally into the back seat of the car, where a cold, dark-haired man with piercing eyes was waiting for him.
