Chapter 2 — The First Move
Harrison remained silent for nearly a full minute.
Then he pressed a button on his desk.
Within seconds, four senior partners entered the conference room carrying laptops and legal files. None of them asked why they had been summoned after business hours. Harrison Cole never called an emergency meeting unless someone powerful was about to fall.
"Freeze every asset connected to Harrington Commercial Group," Harrison said calmly.
One attorney hesitated.
"Without filing?"
"We're not filing."
He slid the tablet containing Richard's offshore transactions across the table.
"We're hunting."
The room became deadly quiet.
"Every shell company. Every hidden trust. Every offshore account. I want every dollar traced before sunrise."
"Yes, Mr. Cole."
The lawyers disappeared without another word.
Khloe watched her brother, barely recognizing him.
She had always known Harrison was brilliant.
She had never realized how terrifying he could be.
"What happens now?" she asked softly.
Harrison looked directly at her.
"Now we make sure Richard never controls another decision in your life."
Richard had no idea the clock had already started ticking.
The next morning, he walked into Harrington Commercial's headquarters expecting another routine board meeting.
Instead, every executive around the conference table avoided eye contact.
His chief financial officer looked sick.
"Richard..."
"What?"
"The banks..."
"What about them?"
"They froze our international credit lines."
Richard frowned.
"That's impossible."
"It gets worse."
The company lawyer slid a folder across the table.
"Federal investigators requested financial records from six of our subsidiaries."
Richard's stomach tightened.
"Who leaked this?"
Nobody answered.
At that exact moment, his phone buzzed.
Unknown Number.
He answered immediately.
"Harrington."
A calm voice replied.
"Harrison Cole."
Richard's face drained of color.
"You've made one mistake after another," Harrison said evenly.
"But pushing my sister to the point where she needed me..."
A brief pause.
"...was your last one."
The line went dead.
For the first time in years, Richard felt genuine fear.
Meanwhile, Vanessa remained convinced everything would work out.
Richard had promised her the divorce would be finalized within weeks.
The penthouse would be theirs.
Their baby would inherit the Harrington fortune.
Instead, she arrived at her luxury apartment to find federal agents waiting in the lobby.
"Ms. Kensington?"
"Yes?"
"We have a warrant to seize all electronic devices connected to an ongoing financial fraud investigation."
"What?"
Before she could react, two investigators walked past her toward the elevator.
Vanessa's confident smile disappeared.
For the first time...
May you like
She realized Harrison wasn't attacking them emotionally.
He was dismantling every lie they had built together.
