Chapter 1: Five Minutes Until Everything Fell Apart
Chapter 1: Five Minutes Until Everything Fell Apart
The distant roar of helicopter blades grew louder with every passing second.
Nathan frowned.
"What the hell is that?"
No one answered.
Celeste slowly stood from the white leather chair, her confident smile fading for the first time.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, black helicopters circled above Blackthorn Manor.
Their searchlights swept across the estate.
Then came another sound.
Convoys.
Dozens of black SUVs rolled through the front gates.
The gates that Nathan believed only he controlled.
One after another, armed security personnel stepped out, wearing identical dark suits with a silver crest Nathan had never seen before.
His phone vibrated.
Then another.
And another.
Within seconds it wouldn't stop ringing.
His Chief Financial Officer.
His legal director.
Three board members.
His bank.
The Stock Exchange.
Nathan answered the first call.
"What?"
The terrified voice on the other end barely sounded human.
"Sir... every corporate account has been frozen."
"What?"
"The Financial Crimes Division just issued emergency warrants."
"They've seized every transaction linked to Ashford Global."
Nathan laughed.
"Impossible."
Then another notification appeared.
ASHFORD GLOBAL STOCK HALTED.
His face slowly turned pale.
I remained kneeling.
Blood stained the polished marble beneath me.
May you like
Yet for the first time that night...
I smiled.
