Chapter 11 - The Rat in the Trap
Ethan looked drastically different from the man who had been escorted out of the boardroom in disgrace just days ago. His designer navy suit was soaked through with rain, his hair plastered across his forehead, and his eyes burned with a manic, desperate wildness. In his right hand, he held a heavy steel wrench he must maintenance-hiked from a utility closet.
'Ethan,' I said, my voice dropping into an ice-cold register as I slowly stood up from my chair, keeping my hand within reach of the panic button hidden beneath my desk. 'How did you get past building security?'
Ethan let out a harsh, unstable laugh, stepping further into the office and slamming the wrench against the edge of a mahogany filing cabinet with a deafening clang that echoed through the empty floor.
'Security?' Ethan sneered, wiping rain from his face with the back of his sleeve. 'Security works for whoever pays them the most, Claire. Just like everyone else in this rotten building. You thought you could ruin me? You thought you and old man Raymond could strip away my stock options, freeze my accounts, and hand me over to the feds like a common criminal?'
'You embezzled millions of dollars, Ethan,' I replied steadily, keeping my distance, watching the erratic twitch in his left eye. 'You committed forgery, assault, and corporate espionage. You did this to yourself.'
'I built this company!' Ethan roared, lunging forward a few steps, pointing the heavy wrench directly at my chest. 'While your father was sleeping in his grave, I was the one securing the contracts, managing the board, and keeping this empire afloat! You were just a rich girl riding on her daddy’s coattails!'
'If you were so brilliant, Ethan, why did you need to steal two million dollars and sell our shipping routes to a foreign shell company?' I retorted sharply, refusing to show a single ounce of fear.
Ethan’s face twisted in rage. He raised the wrench higher. 'Because it was never enough! And now, because of you, my life is completely destroyed. Vanessa left me the second the hospital discharged her and her bank accounts were frozen. The police have an active warrant out for my arrest. I have nothing left, Claire. Absolutely nothing.'
'Then surrender to the police,' I said calmly, slowly sliding my hand underneath the desk edge until my fingertips brushed the panic button. 'Maybe cooperating will reduce your sentence.'
'Surrender?' Ethan laughed hysterically, taking another aggressive step toward me. 'No. We’re going to renegotiate our terms right now. You’re going to sit down at that computer, transfer ten million dollars into my offshore crypto wallet, and sign a notarized confession stating that you fabricated the embezzlement charges against me.'
'And if I refuse?' I asked, my thumb finally pressing firmly against the hidden panic button.
May you like
Ethan’s eyes flared with unhinged violence. He raised the wrench over his head and lunged forward across the desk. 'Then I’ll finish what Vanessa started!'
Before the heavy steel wrench could strike my shoulder, the reinforced office doors suddenly burst open with a resounding crash.
