Chapter 2: Five Minutes Later
Chapter 2: Five Minutes Later
The ambulance had not yet arrived.
But someone else had already made the first move.
Matthew was halfway across Midtown, smiling as Lauren reached across the restaurant table and lifted her champagne glass.
"To new beginnings," she said.
His phone vibrated.
Then vibrated again.
And again.
He frowned.
The first message came from the Chief Financial Officer.
Call me immediately.
The second came from the company's general counsel.
Emergency board meeting.
The third simply read:
Sterling Capital has withdrawn every line of credit.
Matthew's smile disappeared.
"What is it?" Lauren asked.
He ignored her and called the CFO.
The answer came instantly.
"Matthew... we're in trouble."
"What happened?"
"Every lender pulled out at exactly midnight."
"That's impossible."
"The banks aren't even explaining why."
Another call came through.
Then another.
A major client had suspended negotiations.
A private equity partner terminated its investment.
Two board members had resigned.
Matthew felt the blood drain from his face.
Lauren whispered,
"Matthew..."
He slowly turned toward the restaurant windows.
Across the street, a black sedan had stopped.
Then another.
Then a third.
Men in dark suits quietly stepped onto the sidewalk.
Not bodyguards.
Corporate investigators.
The leader looked up toward the restaurant.
Their eyes met through the glass.
For the first time in years...
Matthew understood what real power looked like.
Not violence.
Influence.
The kind that moved markets before sunrise.
May you like
The kind his father-in-law had spent forty years building.
And the kind Matthew had mistaken for a fairy tale.
