Chapter 5 - Cornering the Beast
The financial execution of Hale Enterprises was swift, brutal, and utterly merciless.
Within forty-eight hours of Nathan releasing the encrypted files, the New York Stock Exchange halted trading on all Hale Enterprise stock. Federal agents raided the corporate headquarters on Fifth Avenue, seizing hundreds of servers, filing cabinets, and hard drives.
Marcus Hale’s three primary defense attorneys resigned simultaneously after Nathan leaked private recordings exposing Marcus attempting to bribe members of the federal grand jury from inside his holding cell.
Stripped of his bail, his money, and his legal team, Marcus sat in a cold, fluorescent-lit interrogation room at the Manhattan Federal Courthouse.
The door opened, and two people walked in.
Assistant United States Attorney Richard Vance... and Evelyn Carter.
Marcus looked up, his eyes bloodshot, his face pale and sunken. He wore an orange inmate jumpsuit, his wrists bound by heavy steel handcuffs anchored to his waist belt.
“Evelyn,” Marcus croaked out, his voice raspy. He attempted to muster a arrogant smirk, but his hands were trembling uncontrollably. “Have you come to gloat? To see what your big, bad brothers did to me?”
Evelyn sat down calmly in the metal chair across from him. She was dressed in an impeccably tailored navy suit, wearing her silver locket proudly over her collar.
“My brothers didn’t do this to you, Marcus,” Evelyn said quietly, resting her hands on the steel table. “You did this to yourself the moment you put your hands on me in that ballroom.”
“You think you’re smart?” Marcus spat, leaning forward as far as his chains would allow. “You were nothing before I took you in! A timid little orphan girl crying in her empty mansion! I gave you a life! I gave you a name!”
“You gave me a cage,” Evelyn corrected smoothly. “And while I was in that cage, I watched every move you made. I learned how your business operated. I learned where you hid your offshore shell companies.”
She pulled a thick stack of legal documents from her leather briefcase and slid them across the table.
“What is this?” Marcus demanded, glaring at the papers.
“It’s a complete asset liquidation agreement,” Prosecutor Vance stated firmly. “Mrs. Carter has purchased ninety-two percent of Hale Enterprises’ outstanding debt through the Carter Investment Group. She is currently your primary creditor.”
Marcus’s jaw dropped. “What? No... no! That’s impossible!”
“It’s already done, Marcus,” Evelyn said, her voice completely devoid of emotion. “Every penthouse, every vehicle, every stock portfolio, every Swiss bank account registered under your name now belongs to the Carter Foundation. By five o'clock today, your name will be stripped from every building in New York City.”
“You can’t do this to me!” Marcus screamed, slamming his handcuffed fists against the metal table. “I’m Marcus Hale! I own this city!”
“You own a six-by-eight foot concrete cell in a maximum-security federal prison,” Evelyn replied softly, standing up from her chair. “And you will spend the next forty years inside it.”
She turned toward the door, but stopped, looking back at him over her shoulder.
“Oh, and Marcus?”
Marcus glared up at her, tears of rage brimming in his eyes.
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“Thank you for the slap,” Evelyn said, a small, brilliant smile touching her lips. “If you hadn’t hit me that night, I might have waited another six years to remember who I really am.”
She walked out of the interrogation room, the heavy iron door slamming shut behind her with a sound that signaled the permanent end of Marcus Hale’s world.
