LOGINCharlotte sat at the center of the small interrogation room, both wrists resting on the cold table.Her face was pale, exhausted, but her eyes burned with quiet defiance.Across from her sat Inspector Daniels, his elbows planted on the table, and beside him, Sergeant Nene, a female officer with sharp eyes and an unreadable face. A tape recorder clicked faintly between them, its red light blinking.“Mrs. Briggs,” the inspector began, leaning forward. “We’ve been through this before. You claim you don’t know anything about the cocaine found in your factory. Yet it was found in one of your trucks, inside your compound. Can you explain that?”“I’ve told you already,” Charlotte said, trying to keep her voice calm. “I don’t know how those drugs got there. Someone planted them to frame me and destroy my company.”Inspector Daniels smiled faintly, not mockingly, but with the weariness of someone who’d heard the same line too many times. “That’s what they all say. You’re the CEO, Mrs. Briggs.
Charlotte was in her office at the production unit, reviewing the day’s supply report on her tablet, when a sudden loud noise came from downstairs — shouts, hurried footsteps, and what sounded like police sirens.Her brows furrowed. She stood up immediately, dropped her pen, and rushed out of the office.As she descended the stairs, her heart began to beat faster. Uniformed police officers had already flooded the production area.Some of her staff stood frozen, others whispering among themselves in fear. The air was thick with confusion.“What’s going on here?” Charlotte demanded as she approached, her heels clicking hard against the floor.A tall man in his mid-forties turned to her, showing his badge. “Inspector Daniels. We received credible intelligence that this factory is being used as a front for trafficking illicit drugs,” he said, his voice calm but firm.“What?” Charlotte’s eyes widened. “That’s impossible!”The inspector exchanged glances with two of his officers before repl
“I didn’t sign up for this, Nathan!” Marcel said, his voice raised, his chest still rising and falling fast.His hands trembled as he stood in front of Nathan’s desk. “You were going to kill that guy? Oh God!”Nathan, sitting calmly behind his desk, didn’t even look up. He flipped through a file, his face blank, his tone casual. “Well, now you’re happy it didn’t happen. Perhaps not if you’d done your job well.”Marcel stared at him, stunned. “What is wrong with you?”Nathan raised a brow slightly, his hand still holding the pen. “Wrong with me? The only thing wrong is I trusted you to handle something you clearly couldn’t.”Marcel took a deep breath, rubbing his face with both hands. “You’re losing it, Nathan. You can’t keep doing things like this. You’re not—”Before he could finish, the door opened quietly. Mia stepped in, holding a tablet close to her chest.But the moment she saw the tension between the two men, she froze. Her instinct was to turn back, but Nathan’s deep voice sto
“What’s the location?” Nathan asked, his voice calm but sharp enough to cut through the air.Marcel turned to him, confused. “What?”“I said what’s the goddamn location of the bastard’s address?” Nathan barked, eyes burning with fury.Marcel blinked rapidly, startled by the sudden rise in his tone. “Wait... Boss, calm down. You’re not thinking straight.”“Read it!” Nathan thundered, slamming his palm on the dashboard.Marcel sighed heavily, pulled out his phone and scrolled through the email. “It says 27 Shady Creek, Bronx,” he muttered.“Good,” Nathan said coldly. “Driver, turn around. Head to that address. Right now.”The driver hesitated but obeyed, taking a sharp U-turn.Marcel stared at his friend. “What are you doing?” he asked, trying to make sense of the madness brewing beside him.“What does it look like I’m doing?” Nathan shot back. His face was calm but the fire in his eyes told another story.“It looks like you’re going on a mission to kill someone,” Marcel said, his voice
“Nelly, the business summit is in thirty minutes. If we don’t get going now, we’ll be late,” Nelly said, standing by the desk with her tablet in hand.Charlotte looked up from her computer, the glow from the monitor reflecting softly against her flawless face. The reports were spread neatly across her desk, evidence of another busy morning spent overseeing an empire she had built with determination, resilience, and sacrifice.“Thank you, Nelly,” she said softly. She typed the last few lines, closed her laptop and stood. “Please, get my bag and tell the driver to warm the car.”“Yes, ma’am,” Nelly replied, hurrying out.Charlotte exhaled slowly after she left. Business summits had become a regular part of her life over the years, but each one still carried significance. They were reminders of how far she had come from the woman who once struggled through heartbreak and uncertainty. Today, however, she had no idea that fate had arranged a meeting she neither expected nor wanted.Minu
Jennifer rolled her eyes fiercely at him, whispering harshly. “Aren’t you the man here? Shouldn’t you be the one thinking of a solution?” Her voice trembled with irritation and fear.Roland’s forehead creased. “This is your house, woman!” he fired back in a hushed tone. “You’re supposed to know the escape routes, not me!”Jennifer sighed, her breath sharp. “Oh, God,” she muttered under her breath, pacing back and forth in panic. Downstairs, the sound of footsteps echoed faintly. They were getting closer.In the living room, the butler appeared and bowed slightly before Nathan. “Sir, welcome,” he said politely. “Madam is upstairs in the bedroom.”Nathan looked up toward the staircase. “Is she okay?” he asked, trying to sound casual.“I believe so, sir,” the butler replied. Just then, Melina and Samuel came running from the hallway, shouting in excitement, “Daddy! Daddy!” They hugged his legs while Martha trailed behind, trying to calm them down.Marcel stepped closer to Nathan and lea
By nightfall, the city had grown quieter and more subdued, the earlier rush fading into distant hums of traffic and scattered streetlights that dotted the darkness like small beacons. Nathan stood outside a modest but well-kept apartment building, his posture rigid and tense as he faced Marcel wit
The urgent call from Marcel turned out to be strictly work-related, though it came at the worst possible time imaginable. A major client from New York—one Nathan had spent years carefully cultivating, had suddenly requested a face-to-face meeting, insisting emphatically that it had to be Nathan hi
A sharp knock echoed through the apartment, cutting through the fragile calm that had settled in the room like a knife through silk. Charlotte stiffened instantly, her entire body going rigid. Her hands paused mid-movement as she packed the ointment back into the first-aid box with careful precisi
Nathan strode toward her with long, furious steps and grabbed her wrist roughly, yanking her sharply to his side with barely controlled violence. His grip was tight, possessive, burning with panic and jealousy all at once, his fingers digging into her skin hard enough to leave marks."Who the hell







