Chapter 6 - The Final Desperation
The autumn brought a bitter chill to the Boise valley, the leaves turning a dark, rusted orange before falling onto the concrete corporate park. Maris’s success had drawn the attention of national tech conglomerates, and she was currently in the middle of negotiating a historic partnership with a Silicon Valley logistics giant that would value Camden Digital Supply at over eighty million dollars.
One evening, as Maris was walking toward her car in the executive garage, a figure stepped out from behind one of the concrete pillars.
It was Colton.
His hair was unkempt, his tailored shirt replaced by a stained denim jacket, and his face carried the hollow, frantic look of a man who had completely run out of options.
"Maris," Colton said, his hands shoved deep into his pockets, his voice shaking from the cold—and from fear. "Please. You have to listen to me. I’m in trouble."
Maris stopped, her hand remaining inside her coat where her fingers rested on the button of her emergency security alert. "You shouldn't be on this property, Colton. The restraining order applies to the entire industrial park."
"The banks are foreclosing on my personal condo, Maris!" Colton cried out, taking a desperate step forward before stopping himself under her cold, unyielding gaze. "The Nevada developers are suing me for misrepresentation! They’re saying I hid the company's financial instability to secure their investment! I’m looking at actual prison time if I can’t pay the settlement by Friday!"
"Then you should hire a good criminal defense attorney, Colton," Maris said, her voice completely flat, devoid of any anger or malice. "Though I doubt any of them will take the case on credit."
"You did this to me!" Colton suddenly screamed, his old arrogance flaring up like a dying ember. "You came into that backyard and played the victim, but you’re the monster! You stripped Dad of his life’s work, you threw me to the wolves, and you’re sitting on millions of dollars that belong to our family name!"
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"Our family name was built on a lie, Colton," Maris said softly, her voice carrying an absolute certainty that caused his shouting to die away. "Dad built a company on the backs of honest drivers, and then he let you and Derek bleed it dry because he loved the reflection of his own ego in your faces. I didn't create your ruin, Colton. I just stopped paying the bill for it."
She stepped into her car, closing the heavy door between them. As she drove past him, she saw him sink onto the concrete floor of the garage, his head in his hands—a perfect mirror of the way Maris had felt at ten years old, watching her father throw her handmade card into the trash. The ledger was officially balanced.
