Chapter 5 - THE CELLAR CONFRONTATION
The wine cellar of Ashwood Manor was notoriously chilly, lined with thousands of vintage bottles worth more than a fleet of sports cars. Dominic Vance, wearing a bespoke suit that now looked entirely crumpled, sat on a wooden crate, flanked by two of Marcus’s largest security guards.
The heavy iron door swung open, and Camille was shoved inside. She stumbled, her wedding dress dragging across the damp stone floor. Adrian walked in right behind her, shutting the door.
"Adrian, please!" Camille begged, crawling toward him. "It was his idea! Dominic forced me into it! He said he would hurt my family if I didn't help him!"
Dominic scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Save it, Cam. He knows." He looked at Adrian with a sneer. "So you caught us. Bravo. What are you going to do, Adrian? Call the cops? The scandal will tank Highline Systems' stock by Monday morning. The media will eat you alive. The poor little orphan boy who got played by a pretty face."
Adrian walked over to a rack, casually inspecting a 1982 Bordeaux. "You're right about one thing, Dominic. The media loves a scandal. But they love a corporate victory even more."
He turned around, his eyes flashing with a predatory light. "I didn't just call the FBI. I called my board of directors. While you two were sitting in the dark down here, my legal team froze every single asset connected to your name, Dominic. We also traced the IP addresses you used to set up those offshore accounts. Turns out, your cybersecurity is a joke compared to a man who built a tech empire from spare parts."
Dominic's smug expression faltered. "You... you can't do that. That's illegal."
"I'm reporting a hostile cyber-attack on Highline Systems," Adrian said smoothly. "You're not just facing fraud charges; you're facing federal cyber-terrorism charges. You're going away for a very, very long time."
Camille let out a choked sob, collapsing onto the stone floor. "Adrian, I'll sign whatever you want. I'll walk away with nothing. Just let me go. Please."
Adrian looked down at her. The woman he thought he loved was entirely gone, replaced by a greedy, desperate stranger. "You are walking away with nothing, Camille. But you aren't walking away free."
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The sound of sirens wailed in the distance, growing louder as they approached the manor.
"Enjoy the wine," Adrian said, turning his back on them. "It's the last good thing you'll taste for a decade."
