Chapter 5 - The Fallout Begins
While Cole and I spent Saturday hauling my boxes into my new second-floor apartment across town, things back at Apex Grappling were beginning to unravel.
Unbeknownst to us, Frank Rossi—a retired detective who was a regular at Master Lee’s gym and also happened to be our uncle—had received a frantic phone call from an anonymous parent whose teenage son had also been bullied by Derek two months prior.
Uncle Frank didn't just let things slide. When he heard that an active-duty Navy SEAL had nearly had to snap Derek’s arm to protect his niece, Frank went to work.
By Monday morning, three separate inspection and legal notices were sitting on Marcus Vance’s front desk.
First, the state athletic commission launched an inquiry into unregistered sparring injuries and lack of certified medical oversight at Apex Grappling.
Second, the insurance carrier representing the commercial strip mall received a formal demand letter citing negligence, unsafe training conditions, and the unredacted security footage of Derek choking an unconscious student four seconds past a tap.
And third, word had already leaked across the local grappling community.
Within forty-eight hours, twelve of Apex’s paying members—including three blue belts who were sick of funding Derek’s inflated ego—pulled their memberships and transferred over to Master Lee’s Combat Academy downtown.
Derek was losing his mind.
I found out about it through a text message from Chloe, a former training partner at Apex who had secretly hated Derek’s attitude for months.
You guys destroyed him, Chloe’s text read, accompanied by a laughing-while-crying emoji. Derek tried to act tough at practice last night, but Marcus screamed at him for ten minutes straight because they lost two grand in monthly dues. Derek is swearing revenge on your brother.
I stared at the screen, a cold spike of anxiety piercing my chest.
I walked out of my new bedroom, holding my phone out toward the kitchen where Cole was boiling water for instant coffee.
"Cole, look at this," I said, handing him the phone. "Derek is furious. Chloe says he’s looking for you. He thinks you humiliated him in front of his boss."
Cole took the phone, read the text message, and calmly set it down on the kitchen counter beside his coffee mug. He took a slow sip, staring out the window at the quiet suburban street below.
"Let him look," Cole said simply. "Men like Derek only know how to operate inside their little controlled ecosystem where everyone kisses their feet. The second they step outside into the real world, they fall apart."
"What if he comes here?" I asked, my voice trembling slightly. "What if he tries something stupid?"
May you like
Cole walked over, placed both hands gently on my shoulders, and looked straight into my eyes.
"Sarah, I’ve spent fifteen years hunting high-value targets across three continents," Cole said, his voice entirely steady, filled with an unshakable, terrifying calm. "If Derek wants to find out what happens when he steps outside the padded mat, I’ll be more than happy to give him a master class."
