Chapter 9 - The Catalyst of Ruin
Richard swallowed hard, his eyes darting frantically toward the shadows where Kael and Thorne stood like statues of vengeance. "Caroline... Caroline said you were a nobody. She said you were just a domestic background prop she kept around for show."
"Caroline has always possessed a profound talent for underestimating the people who feed her," I said smoothly, resting my elbows on my knees. "She told you our shipping routes. She handed you the internal security protocols for our European distribution channels. In exchange, what did she get? A few designer handbags and a promise of a future once you pushed me out of the picture?"
"It was business!" Richard snarled, trying to salvage a shred of corporate bravado. "In our world, acquisitions happen every day! She wanted out of a dead marriage, and I wanted market share!"
"Acquisitions require capital, Richard," I replied, my tone dropping to a sub-zero chill. "Betrayal requires a soul. And you traded yours to a woman who wouldn't even share a crust of bread with her starving child."
At that exact moment, the side doors of the warehouse opened, and our second convoy arrived. Caroline, Cynthia, and the two socialites were unceremoniously pushed into the cavernous workspace, shivering and blinking against the harsh halogen light.
Caroline gasped as she saw Richard bound to the chair. The illusion of their sophisticated, untouchable affair shattered right before her eyes, reduced to a cold, damp warehouse floor and the barrel of a gun.
"Richard!" Caroline cried out, stumbling forward before an operative gently caught her arm and forced her to her knees beside him.
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"Julian, please!" Caroline begged, looking up at me with genuine, unadulterated terror. "Leave him out of this! It was my fault! I approached him!"
"How wonderfully chivalrous of you, Caroline," I murmured, standing up from the stool. "For five years, you watched me play the docile husband. You watched me care for our daughter while you plotted our financial destruction. And all the while, you thought you were the smartest person in the room."
