He Left His Pregnant Wife Unconscious on the Marble Floor, but Her Two Brothers Made the Entire City Watch Him Fall

The glass lobby of Maddox Pharmaceuticals became a stadium of public humiliation.

As the news helicopters hovered outside, filming through the massive glass windows, Elias Lane walked straight up to Cole Maddox, flanked by eight tactical FBI officers.

Cole backed up against the security desk, his arrogance completely shattered, hyperventilating as the reality of his total destruction crashed down on him.

"Cole Maddox," Elias said, pulling a official document from his leather coat. "You are under arrest for federal securities fraud, corporate manslaughter, tampering with evidence, and attempted murder."

"Elias, please!" Cole pleaded, dropping all pretense of strength, tears streaming down his face. "She's my wife! She's carrying my daughter! We can talk about this! I'll give her whatever she wants! Half the company! Sixty percent!"

Elias looked at Cole with pure disgust.

"You don't have a company anymore, Cole," Elias said softly. "The stock plunged ninety-four percent five minutes ago. Your board just voted to turn over all internal communications to my team. You are bankrupt. You are ruined. And you will never touch a single dollar of your family's fortune again."

"You can't do this to me!" Cole screamed as two agents grabbed his arms, pulling them behind his back and snapping cold, steel handcuffs around his wrists. "I am a Maddox! My family built this city!"

"Your family built a empire of lies," Elias replied, turning him around and marching him toward the front doors.

As Cole was led out into the freezing morning air, hundreds of camera flashes exploded in his face. Reporters screamed questions at him, waving microphones through the air:

"Cole, did you push your pregnant wife?" "Is your daughter alive?" "How many patients died in Trial 9B?"

Cole buried his face in his shoulder, trying to hide from the light, but the agents held his head high, forcing him to face every camera, every reporter, every citizen of New York who watched him fall from grace in real time.

Across the street, standing in the shadow of a dark SUV, was Julian Lane.

Julian was wearing his black coat, his arms crossed over his chest, watching Cole being shoved into the back of a police van like a common criminal.

Cole caught sight of Julian through the reinforced glass window of the van.

Julian didn't smile. He raised his right hand, making a slow, deliberate gesture across his throat—a promise that this was only the beginning of Cole's punishment.

As the police van drove away, its sirens screaming into the morning traffic, Elias walked over to Julian.

"The federal judge signed the emergency protective order," Elias said, handing a paper to his brother. "Cole’s parental rights have been permanently revoked under the high-risk violence statute. Even if he somehow gets out of prison forty years from now, he legally cannot approach within five miles of Marissa or the baby."

Julian took a deep breath of the cold morning air, his shoulders relaxing for the first time in twelve hours.