Chapter 6 - THE POISONED CHALICE
Two weeks passed. The tension in Hawthorne Ridge was suffocating, yet entirely invisible to the naked eye. Evelyn was busy finalizing the details for their extravagant engagement party, acting the part of the blissful bride-to-be. Nathaniel matched her step for step, buying her expensive gifts, smiling for the society photographers, and pretending to review the sabotaged documents Richard kept pushing across his desk.
Behind the scenes, Nathaniel had mobilized an army. His forensic accountants, working in a windowless bunker in a separate building, had not only traced the offshore accounts but had successfully hacked them. With the help of federal contacts Nathaniel had cultivated over years of high-level political donations, he quietly briefed a specialized task force within the FBI’s financial crimes division.
He didn't just want them arrested; he wanted a spectacle. He wanted them to feel the exact moment the floor dropped out from under their lives.
On Wednesday night, three days before the engagement party, Nathaniel and Evelyn hosted a private dinner at the estate. Richard and his wife were the only guests. The dining room was lit by candlelight, the table set with Baccarat crystal and silver.
“To Detroit,” Richard toasted, raising his glass of vintage Bordeaux. “And to the man who makes the impossible happen.”
“To Detroit,” Evelyn echoed, resting her hand intimately on Nathaniel’s thigh under the table.
Nathaniel raised his glass, looking Richard dead in the eye. “I couldn't do it without my team. The loyalty in this room is truly… breathtaking. Tell me, Richard, how are the shell—excuse me, the sub-contracting companies looking? All the routing numbers verified for Friday’s transfer?”
Richard’s smile faltered for a microsecond. “Perfectly verified. Ready for your signature.”
“Excellent,” Nathaniel smiled, cutting into his steak. “Because I decided to make a slight change to the banking protocols today. Just an extra layer of security. I moved the entire $400 million capital reserve to a newly secured escrow account. You’ll need a secondary biometric authorization from me to initiate the wire on Friday.”
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Under the table, Evelyn’s hand went completely rigid. Richard swallowed hard, his face losing a fraction of its color. “Oh? That’s… prudent, Nate. Very prudent.”
They were panicking. Nathaniel could smell the fear radiating off them like cheap cologne. The trap was set, and they had just stepped directly onto the pressure plate.
