Chapter 5 - The Groom’s AwakeningWhile Carmen was having her panic attack on the country club terrace, her beloved son Javier Robles was sitting in his luxury BMW coupe parked outside my apartment building, staring blankly at his dashboard with a look of absolute, unmitigated horror.
Javier wasn't thinking about the condo anymore. He wasn't thinking about his mother’s grand plans, or high society, or controlling his new bride’s property.
His phone was glued to his ear, and the voice on the other end was screaming so loudly he had to hold the device an inch away from his ear.
"What do you mean, my cards are declined?!" Javier yelled into the phone, his face bright red with panic. "I’m trying to pay for gas at the station down the street from the bride’s apartment and the pump keeps rejecting my black card! Do you know who I am? My father is Victor Robles!"
"Mr. Javier, I am telling you for the third time, your primary card and all secondary authorized user accounts linked to the Vanguard trust have been frozen by federal regulators!" the automated banking representative replied coldly. "Furthermore, your personal lines of credit have been suspended pending an active criminal investigation into corporate fraud and money laundering."
"Criminal investigation?!" Javier choked out, his voice cracking into a high-pitched squeak. "That’s insane! My dad’s a senior partner! This is a computer glitch! Talk to my father!"
"Your father’s accounts are frozen too, sir. Have a good day."
Click.
The line went dead.
Javier dropped his phone onto the passenger seat, his chest heaving as a cold panic sweat broke out across his forehead. He looked up through the windshield at the nondescript apartment building where Sofia and her mother lived.
Last night, he had stood outside the honeymoon suite door while his mother and her friends terrorized his new wife, casually telling them not to damage her face too badly because of brunch photographs. He had believed he was untouchable. He had believed that marrying Sofia was just a clever business transaction to absorb her property into his family’s portfolio.
Now, in less than half a day, his family’s entire financial foundation had turned to ash.
Before Javier could even process the catastrophe, his car doors suddenly clicked.
Before he could reach for the door handle, both the driver’s side and passenger side doors swung open simultaneously with a sharp pull.
Two men in dark tactical suits—men built like brick walls with cold, emotionless eyes—slid into the front and back seats of the BMW with military precision.
Javier froze, his hands hovering over the steering wheel, his breath catching in his throat. "Who... who are you? What is this?! You can't just get into my car! I’ll call the police!"
The man in the passenger seat—a burly operative with a jagged scar across his jaw—turned his head slowly and looked at Javier with the absolute indifference of an executioner.
"The police are currently busy executing federal search warrants at your father’s office, Mr. Robles," the operative said, his voice deep and flat. "Put your hands on the steering wheel where we can see them."
"I... I didn't do anything!" Javier whimpered, his voice trembling as he instinctively obeyed, placing his palms flat against the leather steering wheel. "What do you want from me?!"
"Colonel Brooks requests a brief family consultation," the operative replied calmly. "Step out of the vehicle."
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Before Javier could protest, strong hands grabbed him by the arms, efficiently hauling him out of the driver’s seat and escorting him across the sidewalk toward a waiting black armored van with tinted windows.
As the heavy doors of the van slid shut behind him, plunging the interior into darkness, Javier realized with terrifying clarity that the nightmare was only just beginning.
