Chapter 15: The Freeze

The Zurich courthouse smelled like old paper and bad coffee.

Jennifer sat in the front row, spine straight, hands clenched around the edge of the wooden bench until her knuckles went white. Forty-eight hours had passed since the boardroom vote was adjourned. Forty-eight hours of waiting, of lawyers arguing, of Harry Argent sitting across the room like he’d already won.

“Order,” Judge Richter Weber said, her voice sharp enough to cut glass. “This court will now rule on the emergency injunction filed by Benz Holdings against the sale of 51% of its shares to Argent Global Holdings Ltd.”

Jennifer didn’t breathe.

David sat beside her, calm on the surface. His hand found hers under the table, thumb brushing her knuckles once. A silent _I’m here_.

Ms. Okoro stood. “Your Honor, the sale was executed using a forged Power of Attorney and a contract signed under duress. We have forensic evidence, witness testimony, and a contemporaneous audio recording from Edward Benz himself.”

Harry’s lawyer, a slick man named Laurent Moreau, stood immediately. “Your Honor, the documents are notarized, legal, and were executed before any alleged duress occurred. The audio is unverified. The witness is unreliable. My client acted within his legal rights.”

Judge Weber’s eyes moved between them, calculating.

She hated rushed cases. She hated being forced to decide in 72 hours. But the law was clear: if there was probable cause of fraud, the transaction had to be frozen until a full trial.

“Ms. Okoro,” the judge said. “Play the recording.”

The courtroom went silent.

Jennifer’s phone had been entered as evidence. Ms. Okoro pressed play.

Static. Then a voice.

_“If you’re hearing this, it means they forced me to sign. The contract is a lie. Harry Argent will never own Benz Holdings. Not while I’m alive.”_

Edward Benz. Tired. Afraid. Real.

Murmurs rippled through the gallery.

Harry didn’t move. His face didn’t change. But his fingers tapped once against the table.

Ms. Okoro didn’t wait. “Forensic analysis confirms the recording is unedited and matches Mr. Benz’s voiceprint with 99.8% accuracy. The Power of Attorney is a forgery, created after Mr. Benz’s death.”

Laurent Moreau stood. “Objection! The defense was not given time to verify the forensic report!”

“Overruled,” Judge Weber said. “The report was submitted 12 hours ago. That is sufficient under Article 14 for emergency proceedings.”

She looked down at the documents in front of her.

Jennifer felt like she was going to throw up.

“Based on the evidence presented,” Judge Weber said slowly, “this court finds probable cause that the sale of Benz Holdings shares was executed through fraud and coercion. The transaction is hereby frozen. All shares revert to the estate of Edward Benz, effective immediately. Mr. Argent is to surrender all documentation and cease any action regarding Benz Holdings pending a full trial.”

The gavel came down.

_Crack._

Jennifer exhaled. She didn’t realize she’d been holding her breath.

“We won,” she whispered.

David squeezed her hand. “Not yet. We just bought time.”

Harry stood, his chair scraping loudly. He looked at Jennifer, and for the first time, his mask slipped. There was real anger there.

“This isn’t over,” he said, loud enough for the whole courtroom to hear. “You think a judge can stop me? You have no idea who you’re dealing with.”

Judge Weber banged the gavel again. “Mr. Argent, you are to remain in custody. Bail is revoked.”

As two officers moved in, Harry’s eyes never left Jennifer.

“You won this round,” he said. “But Ravenna’s move isn’t finished.”

They took him out in handcuffs.

The courtroom erupted. Reporters surged forward, cameras flashing, shouting questions.

“Ms. Benz! Is Benz Holdings safe now?”

“Mr. Loriss, will you merge the companies?”

“Is it true you and Ms. Benz are engaged?”

Jennifer didn’t answer. She let David guide her through the side exit, Ms. Okoro and Marcus clearing a path.

Outside, the Zurich morning was cold and bright. Too bright for how she felt.

They got into the armored SUV. Marcus drove. David’s phone rang before the doors closed.

He answered, listened, and went still.

“What?” Jennifer asked.

David hung up.

“Mara’s safe house was breached ten minutes ago,” he said. “She’s gone.”

Jennifer’s blood went cold.

“No,” she said. “No, we just—”

“Ravenna’s move,” David said quietly. “It started.”

---

The drive back to Geneva was silent except for the sound of Marcus’s tires on wet asphalt.

Jennifer stared at her phone. No new messages. No ransom demand. Nothing.

Ravenna didn’t play by the rules.

“She wouldn’t kill Mara,” Jennifer said finally. “Mara’s leverage.”

David nodded. “She wants us distracted. The injunction was supposed to be our win. Now we’re scrambling.”

Marcus spoke without looking back. “Interpol says there were no forced entry signs. Whoever took her had codes.”

“Inside job,” Jennifer said.

David’s jaw tightened. “I’ll tear the whole department apart if I have to.”

They reached the Geneva safe house at dusk. It was a different location this time—an old chalet on the edge of the city, surrounded by woods and monitored by Loriss Corp’s private security.

Mara’s room was empty. The window was open, the screen sliced clean.

Jennifer ran to the bedside table. The journal was gone.

“She took it,” Jennifer said. “Or they took it.”

David checked the room, methodical, furious. “No signs of a struggle. She went willingly, or she was made to.”

Ms. Okoro arrived twenty minutes later, face grim. “Interpol confirmed it. Mara’s GPS tracker was cut. We’ve got nothing.”

Jennifer sat on the edge of the bed and put her head in her hands.

“I dragged her into this,” she said. “She was safe for eleven years. And I—”

“You gave her a chance to bury her friend properly,” David said, kneeling in front of her. “Don’t you dare blame yourself.”

Jennifer looked up at him. “What if she’s hurt? What if Ravenna—”

“She won’t kill her yet,” David said. “Mara’s the only one who can confirm the journal. Ravenna needs her alive to control the narrative.”

Marcus stepped in. “We’ve got a hit. A black van left the safe house perimeter at 3:12 AM. Heading south toward the French border.”

David stood. “We go.”

Jennifer stood too. “I’m coming.”

David hesitated, then nodded. “Stay behind me.”

They took two SUVs, lights off, moving fast through the dark. Interpol had roadblocks set up, but the van was moving through back roads, avoiding main highways.

They caught up to it twenty minutes outside Geneva, at an abandoned quarry.

The van was parked at the edge of a cliff.

Four men stood around it, guns drawn.

In the middle was Mara, hands bound, a bag over her head.

Jennifer opened her door.

“Stop!” she shouted.

One of the men fired into the air.

“Don’t move!” he yelled.

David stepped out, hands up. “Let her go. You have what you want.”

The lead man laughed. “We don’t want the journal. We want her to deliver a message.”

He pulled the bag off Mara’s head.

Mara spat blood on the ground, but her eyes were defiant.

“Tell Jennifer,” the man said, “the vote doesn’t matter. The company’s already gone.”

Jennifer felt the ground drop out from under her.

“What did you do?” she asked.

The man smiled. “We sold it. Benz Holdings. To a shell company in the Caymans. Yesterday. All 51%. Transaction’s cleared.”

Jennifer’s phone buzzed in her pocket.

She didn’t need to look at it to know what it was.

“That’s impossible,” she said. “The shares were frozen.”

“Not after the forged contract went public,” the man said. “Once that hit the news, the freeze was lifted. Pending investigation. And Harry’s people moved fast.”

David stepped forward. “Who bought it?”

The man looked at Jennifer.

“Check your email, Ms. Benz,” he said.

He nodded to the others.

They got back in the van and drove off, leaving Mara stumbling in the dirt.

David ran to her and cut her bindings.

Jennifer stood frozen, phone in her hand.

She opened her email.

Subject: _Notice of Transfer – Benz Holdings Ltd._

Attached was a certificate of sale. Buyer: Argent Global Holdings Ltd. Seller: Harry Argent, acting as legal representative of Benz Holdings.

Date: Yesterday. 11:47 PM.

Jennifer’s vision blurred.

“It’s gone,” she whispered.

David came to stand beside her.

“No,” he said. “It’s not gone. It’s stolen. And we can get it back.”

Jennifer looked at him. “How?”

David’s eyes were hard.

“We go to court,” he said. “Right now. We file an emergency injunction. We prove the sale was based on a forged document and criminal coercion.”

Jennifer nodded, but her hands were shaking.

Mara limped over to them. “I’m sorry.”

Jennifer hugged her. “It’s not your fault.”

David was already on the phone with Ms. Okoro.

“We need a judge. Now,” he said. “File in Zurich. Emergency hearing. Fraud, coercion, theft of corporate assets.”

Ms. Okoro’s voice was calm. “It’s already filed. Hearing is in two hours.”

Jennifer looked at David.

“How did you know?”

“Because I expected this,” he said. “I didn’t expect them to take Mara.”

Jennifer felt a surge of anger hot enough to burn through the fear.

They drove to Zurich in silence.

The courthouse was packed. Reporters, shareholders, lawyers. The live-stream was already running.

Harry Argent sat in the defendant’s box, looking calm. Too calm.

Ravenna wasn’t there. She’d been denied transport due to “security concerns.”

The judge took the bench at 9 AM sharp.

“Ms. Okoro,” she said. “You have two hours to present your case for an emergency injunction to reverse the sale of Benz Holdings.”

Ms. Okoro stood. “Your Honor, this sale was based on a forged contract, executed under duress, and facilitated by criminal conspiracy. We have witness testimony, forensic evidence, and the journal of the deceased notary.”

Harry’s lawyer stood up.

“Objection,” he said. “The contract is valid on its face. The sale was conducted legally. My client acted as legal representative of Benz Holdings.”

The judge looked at him.

“Mr. Argent, you are not a representative of Benz Holdings,” she said. “You have no legal standing to sell those shares.”

Harry smiled.

“I do now,” he said.

He nodded to his lawyer.

The lawyer placed a document on the table.

“Power of Attorney,” he said. “Signed by Edward Benz, granting Harry Argent authority to act on behalf of Benz Holdings in all matters.”

Jennifer felt the room tilt.

David stood up.

“That document is a forgery,” he said.

Harry laughed.

“Prove it,” he said.

The judge looked at Ms. Okoro.

“Do you have evidence to refute this document?” she asked.

Ms. Okoro hesitated.

“We have the notary’s journal,” she said. “It states the original contract was signed under duress.”

Harry’s lawyer smiled.

“The journal is hearsay,” he said. “The Power of Attorney is notarized and legal.”

The judge frowned.

“Unless you can prove forgery, I have no grounds to grant an injunction,” she said.

Jennifer stood up.

“I can,” she said.

The room went quiet.

Jennifer walked to the front of the courtroom.

“I knew Edward Benz,” she said. “He was my father. And he never would have signed over his company to Harry Argent.”

Harry sneered. “Sentiment isn’t evidence, Ms. Benz.”

Jennifer looked at the judge.

“No,” she said. “But this is.”

She placed Henri Voss’s journal on the table.

“And this is,” she said, pulling out her phone.

She played the audio file.

Edward Benz’s voice filled the room.

_“If you’re hearing this, it means they forced me to sign. The contract is a lie. Harry Argent will never own Benz Holdings. Not while I’m alive.”_

The room erupted.

Harry’s face went white.

“Where did you get that?” his lawyer demanded.

Jennifer looked at Mara, standing in the back of the courtroom with Agent Laurent.

“Mara recorded it,” Jennifer said. “The night before my father died. He knew they were coming for him.”

The judge leaned forward.

“Is this recording authentic?” she asked.

Ms. Okoro nodded. “Forensic analysis confirms it’s unedited and matches Edward Benz’s voiceprint.”

The judge banged her gavel.

“Injunction granted,” she said. “The sale of Benz Holdings is frozen pending a full criminal investigation. All shares revert to the estate of Edward Benz, effective immediately.”

Harry slammed his hands on the table.

“This isn’t over!” he shouted.

The judge looked at him coldly.

“It is for now, Mr. Argent,” she said. “Bail is revoked. You will remain in custody.”

As Harry was led out, he looked at Jennifer.

“You won this round,” he said. “But Ravenna’s move isn’t finished.”

Jennifer didn’t answer.

Outside the courthouse, reporters swarmed.

Jennifer and David walked through them, holding hands.

“Is it over?” a reporter shouted.

Jennifer stopped.

“No,” she said. “But we’re winning.”

Back at the safe house, Jennifer opened the email again.

The sale certificate.

At the bottom, in small print, was a note.

_This transaction was authorized by Ravenna Argent, acting as trustee for the Argent Family Trust._

Jennifer showed it to David.

David stared at it for a long time.

“Ravenna’s in prison,” he said.

Jennifer nodded.

“So how did she authorize it?” she asked.

David’s face went pale.

“Because she never stopped being trustee,” he said. “Even in prison.”

Jennifer felt cold.

“What does that mean?” she asked.

David looked at her.

“It means she still controls Argent Global Holdings,” he said.

“And if she controls Argent Global Holdings,” Jennifer said slowly, “she controls the company that just tried to buy Benz Holdings.”

David nodded.

“And if she controls that,” he said, “she can try again. As many times as she wants.”

Jennifer sat down hard.

Ravenna was in prison.

But she still owned the board.

Jennifer’s phone buzzed.

Another message. From an unknown number.

It was a photo.

Ravenna, sitting in her cell, holding up a piece of paper.

On it, in bold letters:

*BOARD MEETING. 24 HOURS. BE THERE.*

Jennifer looked at David.

“She’s calling a meeting,” she said.

David nodded.

“And we have to go,” he said.

Jennifer stood up.

“Then let’s go,” she said.

Outside, the sun was setting over Geneva.

And somewhere in a prison cell, Ravenna Argent was smiling.