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She Drowned Me, I Bankrupted Her Instead
She Drowned Me, I Bankrupted Her Instead
Author: Goodtale

Chapter 1

Author: Goodtale
The conference room fell silent for three seconds. Mr. Horace Zane, seated to my right, was the first to laugh. He assumed I was joking.

“Mr. Lowe, I don’t think we can put a personal feeling like that in the official bid report.”

“Then I’ll give another reason.” I capped my pen. “The person running Summit Group doesn’t meet our standards of integrity.”

The rankings on the screen shifted down by one. Summit Group went from the top candidate to disqualified. The other shareholders exchanged uneasy glances.

The Spencer family had been at the height of its power in recent years. They were involved in real estate, tourism, and philanthropy. They had their hands in everything. No one wanted to offend them without a good reason.

“This project is a company asset, not a matter of personal feelings. Why don’t we put it to another vote?” said another director in a low voice.

I lifted my gaze and looked at him. “I hold 47% of the voting rights.”

He swallowed the rest of his sentence.

Mr. Zane reviewed the evaluation data. There were still no grounds for disqualification.

“From a purely business standpoint, they’re the strongest candidate.”

“Business includes credibility.” I opened an attachment. “There are seven related-party transactions involving their subsidiaries, all of them funneling money to the same shell company. The shell company is registered under the name of Marcus Spencer’s college roommate.”

No one mentioned personal feelings again. I had legally sealed the bidding footage, notarized timestamps, and every original document. I also instructed the finance department to suspend all credit facilities extended to companies affiliated with the Spencer family.

Every step was permitted under our contracts. No one could accuse me of overstepping my authority.

Mr. Zane followed me to the door, still unwilling to let it go. “Mr. Lowe, you have to give me a reason I can actually put in the board minutes.”

I turned back and looked at him.

“Well, 22% of the Spencer family’s charitable foundation funds over the past three years ended up in consulting accounts owned by their own companies. Is that enough?”

Mr. Zane’s expression changed. “When did you find all this?”

“Before I even knew they were bidding on this project.” I handed him another file. “I like to keep my business clean. I have even less patience for people who use missing children to make themselves look charitable.”

He took the file and said nothing for a long time.

Outside the office, the secretary quietly glanced our way.

I knew people inside the company would start speculating from this moment on. They would wonder what my connection to the Spencer family was. They would wonder why I was so determined to bring them down.

I did not care. The more they speculated, the more restless Elizabeth Spencer would become.

After the meeting, my secretary asked me if I knew someone from the Spencer family.

“Yes.” I looked out at the river beyond the windows. “For thirty years.”

…

The news reached the Spencer family’s residence at 4:00 pm.

Elizabeth slammed her tablet onto the coffee table. The headline read: [Rising Real Estate Tycoon Under Fire for Blacklisting Charity Group.]

Marcus stood behind her. “Liz, is Jensen deliberately targeting us?”

“He wouldn’t dare.” Elizabeth picked up the tablet and put on a smile. “How could some upstart who came out of nowhere possibly have the nerve to challenge the Spencer family?”

She instructed the PR department to work through the night on a statement. Their first move would be to paint me as arrogant, emotional, and guilty of malicious competition.

Meanwhile, I returned to my office and opened the safe. Inside was a yellowed river rescue report.

Under the registration words, there was only one line: [Male child, approximately five years old. Serious injuries. No name.]

I pressed my finger against the words. “Elizabeth, it’s time you remember one name.”

At 10:00 pm that night, she called me herself. “Jensen, have we met before?”

“Many times.”

“I don’t remember you.”

“That’s because you’ve never looked twice at someone drowning.”

There was silence on the other end.

Then she quickly slipped back into her gentle, polished tone. “If you have a problem with the bidding process, we can sit down and talk. There’s no need to make things this ugly.”

“I simply won't do business with the Spencer family.”

“No one in River City can stand against the Spencer family forever.”

“Then let’s see who falls first.” With that, I hung up and blocked her number.

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  • She Drowned Me, I Bankrupted Her Instead   Chapter 9

    The center’s first vocational class taught the residents how to fix a leaky faucet.Jonah stood at the front of the room, wrench in hand. “If you know how to tighten this bolt, you have to ask someone else for help one less time.”No one laughed. They understood all too well what it meant to have to ask someone for help.An elderly man whose wages had been stolen by a labor broker raised his hand. “I’m old. Can I still learn?”Jonah handed him the wrench. “If you’ve still got your hands, you can still learn.”The old man took the wrench, and his eyes immediately filled with tears.I stood outside the classroom, watching everyone inside bend over their work.Their movements were clumsy. They turned things the wrong way, sending pipes clanging against the walls. However, no one yelled at them, and no one told them to get out.At that moment, I finally understood what Second Shore was really giving people.It was not a bed or a meal. It was a place where you could take your time

  • She Drowned Me, I Bankrupted Her Instead   Chapter 8

    I rose to my feet. “I came here to tell you that I'm doing just fine. And you're going to spend the next five years here. Take that time to think about what that day really meant.”Elizabeth suddenly let out a laugh. It was short and ugly. “Five years, that’s all. When I get out, I’ll still be Elizabeth Spencer.”I stopped. “Go ahead and see for yourself.”“Do you think this verdict can destroy me?” As she stared at me, a trace of the old arrogance finally returned to her eyes. “I still have people. I still have connections. Everyone will forget once this blow is over.”“They won’t.”“Why not?”“Every connection you’ve been relying on to keep your reputation intact is already in the hands of the auditors, the media, and the courts.”I looked at her.“Five years from now, you’ll find that the name Elizabeth Spencer still exists in River City, but it will only exist as a case study.”The smile slowly disappeared from her face. I knew that was what truly frightened her.Prison o

  • She Drowned Me, I Bankrupted Her Instead   Chapter 7

    On the day the verdict was handed down, reporters packed the courthouse entrance. Elizabeth was sentenced to five years for intentional assault and ordered to pay my medical expenses and compensation for emotional distress.Marcus was sentenced to three years for concealing evidence and helping cover up the truth.The Spencer family’s assets were frozen, and its major projects were placed into liquidation.The judgment was clear. The victim had not disappeared by accident. He had been pushed into the river by a family member, and the truth had been concealed for years.That sentence carried more weight than any apology ever could.After the hearing, Henry handed me my corrected household registration documents.They read: [Jensen Spencer. Male. Born June 17. Status corrected from presumed deceased to alive.]The words were painfully neat. It was so neat one could not see the bridge where I once slept, the frostbite, the hunger, or the 20 years of nights between those two lines

  • She Drowned Me, I Bankrupted Her Instead   Chapter 6

    In the security footage, Marcus escorted her into the room. When he came back out, he was carrying an old metal box. Inside were the birthday cards my mother had prepared, along with a receipt from the river rescue station.Marcus had always known I was alive. He had just never told anyone.The day he signed the inheritance agreement, he had just turned 18.I watched the footage and finally understood why he had always refused to admit that my face was mine. He did not fear mistaking me for someone else. He was afraid I had really come back.I watched the footage three times. On the third time, Henry turned off the screen. “Don’t watch it again.”“I’d like to confirm one thing.”“What?”“I wasn’t destroyed by one person.”The room fell silent.Elizabeth pushed me into the river. Marcus hid the rescue receipt for her. My parents eventually gave up searching after being reassured again and again that I was gone. The Spencer family’s butler, driver, PR team, and foundation manage

  • She Drowned Me, I Bankrupted Her Instead   Chapter 5

    A week later, Summit Group’s lenders were the first to pull their funding. Suppliers sent notices terminating their contracts, while project partners who had already signed agreements announced that they were suspending cooperation.Marcus slammed his hand on the table at a company meeting. “They’re all fair-weather friends. Once this blows over, they’ll come crawling back.”The CFO pushed a returned-payment notice across the table. “There is no ‘blowing over’. We’re out of cash.”Elizabeth called an emergency press conference. She wore the same white suit from her missing-person interviews, trying once again to cast herself as the victim.“Jensen suddenly claims to be my brother because he wants a piece of the Spencer family fortune. We’re willing to cooperate with the investigation, but we will not tolerate malicious extortion.”A reporter pressed further, “If you’ve been searching for your brother all these years, why is there no record of you ever reporting him missing?”Eliz

  • She Drowned Me, I Bankrupted Her Instead   Chapter 4

    Someone in the crowd drew a sharp breath. The color drained from Marcus’ face. The reporters below raised their cameras at once, flashes exploding across the ballroom.Elizabeth’s eyes moved from my face to my left ear, then dropped to the area beneath my collarbone. The old scar was mostly hidden by my shirt collar. She could see only part of it, but the color had already left her face.She recognized me.When I was a child, I fell through a glass door and suffered a three-inch cut beneath my collarbone. My mother carried me to the hospital, and Elizabeth had been there too.It was not something a stranger could fake.Marcus tried to rush the stage, but security blocked him.“You’re lying!” His voice came out hoarse. “My brother died years ago!”I looked at him. “You’re that sure?” Those four words stopped him cold.The host hurried forward. “Ladies and gentlemen, this may all be a misunderstanding. Let’s have Mr. Lowe return to his seat for now.”“A misunderstanding?” I tu

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