Chapter 4 - THE DEBT UNPAID
The rain fell heavily over Boston as Julian Harcourt stormed into the penthouse office of Vance Global.
The once-proud patriarch of the Harcourt family looked haggard. His designer suit was wrinkled, his hair disheveled, and his eyes bloodshot. Behind him walked Camille, trembling, her pride hanging by a thread, forced to accompany her father to beg for a truce.
Ethan sat behind his desk, calm and unbothered, while Eleanor sat quietly on a velvet sofa near the fireplace, sipping hot tea.
"Ethan!" Julian slammed his hands onto the glass desk. "This has gone far enough! You're destroying my life's work! Our shares are down 60%! The banks are calling in our loans! Tell your legal team to stand down!"
Ethan didn't even look up from his computer screen. "You're trespassing, Julian."
"We were going to be family!" Camille cried out, her voice cracked with desperate anger. "Ethan, how can you do this over a small mistake? I apologized in private! What more do you want from me?"
Ethan slowly turned his gaze toward Camille. "You didn't apologize, Camille. You offered an excuse. There is a profound difference."
Ethan stood up, walked around the desk, and tossed the manila folder onto the center table right in front of Julian Harcourt.
"Let's talk about 2006, Julian," Ethan said coldly.
Julian’s face instantly drained of color as he glanced at the header of the topmost document. "Where... where did you get these?"
"My father worked himself into an early grave because you forged the valuation of Vance Logistics," Ethan said, taking a step toward the older man. "You took our family farm, our land, and our business. You left my mother with three hundred dollars in her bank account and a mountain of fraudulent debt. You built your high-society lifestyle on her blood and sweat."
Eleanor froze, her teacup trembling in her hands as she looked up in shock. "Julian... you... you told me Arthur owed millions to the state..."
"He lied to you, Mom," Ethan said, keeping his eyes fixed on Julian. "He stole everything we had, and then spent twenty years looking down on you from his balcony."
Julian opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. His hands trembled violently.
"I am filing a federal racketeering and fraud lawsuit against Harcourt Enterprises in one hour," Ethan announced smoothly. "Every asset your family owns will be frozen by midnight. You will lose your estate, your cars, your yachts, and your social standing. You will be broke, Julian. Exactly as broke as my mother was when you threw her to the wolves."
Camille gasped, grabbing her father's arm in terror. "Dad... tell him he's wrong! Tell him it's a lie!"
Julian slumped into a chair, completely broken. He knew the paper trail was ironclad.
"Please, Ethan..." Camille dropped to her knees, tears streaming down her face, ruining her designer makeup. She reached out toward Ethan's shoes, the exact same shoes he had walked into the fountain with. "Don't do this to us. I’ll do anything. I’ll apologize publicly to your mother. I’ll drop on my knees on live television! Please!"
Ethan stepped back, avoiding her touch entirely.
"My mother never asked anyone to kneel," Ethan said quietly. "She only asked for decency. Something you will never understand."
"Security," Ethan called out.
May you like
Two heavy-set security guards opened the office doors, stepping inside.
"Escort Mr. and Miss Harcourt off the premises," Ethan commanded. "And if they ever cross this threshold again, have them arrested for criminal trespass."
