Chapter 4 - The Collapse of Bennett MaritimeThe grand ballroom detonated into an absolute storm of chaotic press shouting and flashing lights.
Arthur Bennett—Sophia’s father—stood up from his chair, his face turning an ugly, mottled shade of crimson as he clutched his chest. "You... you bought my debt bonds?!"
"I bought your debt bonds, Mr. Bennett," I revealed deadpan, every word dropped like a heavy block of cold granite. "And as of nine o'clock this morning... the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority seized your secondary accounts in Stockholm for predatory market manipulation."
Sophia jumped out of her chair, her manicured fingers pointing at me with frantic, hysterical rage. "You bitch! You ruined my family! You stole our deal!"
Rebecca stepped forward cleanly, holding a thick leather folder, laying it directly in front of the Swedish Federal Police officers standing near the doors.
"Miss Bennett," Rebecca announced calmly, her voice carrying across the silent hall, "these are certified forensic wiretaps proving you paid three media outlets in Chicago to leak false rumors about Quinn Global, alongside evidence of domestic assault conspiracy."
Two uniformed Swedish Police commanders stepped forward, their heavy leather boots echoing off the marble floorboards.
CLICK. CLICK.
Heavy steel handcuffs locked around Sophia Bennett’s wrists first as she shrieked and thrashed in pathetic, hysterical terror.
CLICK. CLICK.
A second set of cuffs locked around Arthur Bennett’s wrists as federal agents ushered both of them flat across the carpet toward the double doors in chains.
Ethan Walker sat frozen in his seat, his hands shaking violently against his knees, his eyes wide with pure, unadulterated horror as he realized that the woman he had cast aside had just annihilated the entire Bennett empire in less than forty-eight hours.
I stepped down from the podium, walking slowly down the carpeted aisle toward the exit.
As I passed Ethan’s row, he stumbled out of his chair, reaching his hand out toward my sleeve, his voice cracking into a desperate, groveling plea.
"Claire...! Claire, please!" Ethan wept, tears cutting clean tracks through the dust on his cheeks. "I didn't know! I swear to God I didn't know who you were! Sophia tricked me! She used my law firm! Please, Claire... let me see Lily! Let me come home to London!"
I stopped two inches from him.
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I didn't raise my hand. I didn't scream. My hazel eyes looked straight into his bloodshot gray eyes with a cold, absolute disdain that cut deeper than any blade.
"You didn't need to know who I was to treat me like a human being, Ethan," I spoke softly. My voice was a flat, freezing baritone that dropped the temperature in the room below zero. "You hit my face to please a woman who used you. You abandoned your daughter for a fake career. You are never coming to London."
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