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Chapter 2

Author: dizeka
I followed them into the private elevator.

Victor wore a sharply tailored charcoal suit. Behind him stood Luca Moretti, Derek Blackwood, Cole Salerno, and Natalie Bennett.

They represented New York's four crime families, and each was their family's top enforcer.

Luca glanced at me and took me for just another employee.

"Wait for the next one."

He hit the close button, but I blocked the doors with the lunch bag.

"I'm going to the 68th floor too."

Natalie looked at my champagne-colored dress and scoffed. "The company's about to go bankrupt, and the staff can still afford Chanel?"

I ignored her and stepped into the corner.

As the elevator rose, the smell of gun oil on them briefly took me back to my old life.

Five years ago, I'd woken up to that smell every single day. These days, I was used to Arthur's cedar cologne and the scent of croissants baking in the kitchen each morning.

When the elevator reached the top floor, Hawthorne security was already posted on both sides of the conference room doors.

The moment they saw the four family crests, their hands went to their holsters, but not one of them dared to draw first.

More men in black poured out of the other two elevators and took over the hallway in seconds.

Victor pushed the door open and took Richard's seat at the head of the table. Then he slid an agreement across to Arthur.

"Sign it, Arthur. Abyss Capital will stop shorting your stock immediately and provide a $500 million rescue loan."

I stood outside the conference room. The door hadn't closed all the way, and through the gap I could see everything inside.

Catherine picked up the agreement first.

"You used offshore accounts to manipulate our stock on Nasdaq, and now you're using violence to force a patent transfer. Even if you get the signature, a court will throw this agreement out."

"Of course it will. Assuming you make it to court alive."

Victor smiled, every bit the gentleman.

Vera turned her laptop toward him. "Abyss Capital was only registered in Delaware three years ago. It has no verifiable operating assets. That so-called $10 billion in capital comes from 31 offshore special-purpose entities. What exactly are you backing this rescue loan with?"

Victor didn't even glance at the screen. He just snapped his fingers.

Luca set a leather case on the conference table.

When the lid came up, there was no bank guarantee inside. Just four handguns fitted with silencers.

"This is my guarantee."

Edward's face darkened. "This is the Hawthorne Group, not some warehouse of yours in Brooklyn."

Natalie leaned against the doorframe and laughed. "Once that agreement's signed, whose name ends up on this building is anyone's guess. So don't be so quick to act like you own the place, Mr. Hawthorne."

Derek's gaze swept over the faces in the room before settling on me outside the door.

"They say the Hawthorne daughters-in-law are all impressive. One can hack her way into anything. Another can get a federal judge to hear her case in the middle of the night. Then there's Arthur, the family's golden boy. And somehow, all he got was a trophy wife who does nothing but shop for jewelry."

Victor twirled his pen, and his smile widened.

"Pretty's good enough for me. When Arthur can't afford her anymore, I'll be happy to take over."

Arthur shot to his feet and swung at him.

Luca was ready for it and caught Arthur's arm. Derek drew his gun and jammed it against Arthur's chest.

"Say one more word about her," Arthur said, "and you won't make it out of Manhattan."

Cole laughed out loud. "Still haven't figured out who's not making it out of here today?"

The words had barely left his mouth when the gunmen took down every guard in the hallway. One tried to fight back, only to have a gun shoved against the back of his head.

Victor pushed the pen toward Arthur.

"Give me the patents, and you get to keep a few houses. Refuse, and there'll be bodies in this room today."

I walked up to the door with the lunch bag.

A gunman put out an arm to stop me.

"Private meeting. Get lost."

Owen Mercer, Arthur's assistant, jumped in. "She's Arthur Hawthorne's wife."

The gunman looked me up and down, then broke into a grin.

"So you're the trophy wife. Go on in. Mr. Langdon's been wanting to meet you."
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  • The Useless Wife They All Feared   Chapter 10

    Suddenly, someone knocked twice on the conference room door.Vera poked her head in."You two done talking? If we don't get Arthur to a hospital soon, his wounds are going to heal on their own."That was when I remembered his face was still covered in blood.The whole family rushed back in and quickly helped him to an ambulance.When his medical results came back at NewYork-Presbyterian, I stood in front of the doctor, looking more worried than I had staring down four guns earlier that day.Five stitches above his eyebrow, a hairline fracture in his shoulder, and a concussion on top of that.Arthur was the one lying in the hospital bed, and yet he was holding my hand and comforting me."They're just scratches. It doesn't hurt."I gave him a flat look."Then who was wincing in pain a little while ago?"That shut him up fast.Out in the hall, Richard had been waiting a long time with Edward, Vera, and Catherine.When I came out, they all looked a little awkward.Vera spoke first. "Evelyn

  • The Useless Wife They All Feared   Chapter 9

    "No," I answered without a moment's hesitation.But Arthur's grip on the divorce papers didn't loosen."Then how did we really meet?"The conference room was so quiet you could hear every breath.Vera gently pulled Catherine away, while Edward helped Richard toward the door. Soon, we were alone.I waited until the door had closed behind them before I looked at Arthur."Five years ago, I came to New York to hunt down a traitor who'd betrayed my organization."He was hiding in an apartment above your startup's office. To keep an eye on him, I went undercover as your company's new French translator."Back then, Arthur wasn't yet the tech star the Wall Street press raved about.He and a dozen or so engineers were crammed into an old converted warehouse in Brooklyn. By day, he pitched venture capitalists. By night, he slept at the office and kept reworking the chip's architecture.I'd only meant to use the job to get close to my target. Once the mission was over, I'd disappear.But the hunt

  • The Useless Wife They All Feared   Chapter 8

    Victor stared at the regulatory notice on the screen, then lunged for Vera's computer."Shut it down! Delete the evidence!"Before he could touch the keyboard, Enzo kicked him in the back of the knee.Victor went down hard on his knees. Before he could even struggle, four guns were pressed against the back of his head at once.The same people who'd been throwing their weight around for him minutes ago were all on my side now."Evelyn, you can't touch me!"Victor was finally panicking."You can't afford to cross the people behind Abyss Capital!""Is that so?"I glanced at my phone."Marcus, did you find out where Abyss Capital's money really comes from?"Keys clattered on the other end of the line for a few seconds."Found it. Abyss Capital claims to manage $10 billion, but $9.4 billion of it is financed through repurchase agreements, total return swaps, and high-interest offshore loans. Its actual net assets are under $600 million."Victor's just a front man. His so-called backers are

  • The Useless Wife They All Feared   Chapter 7

    Victor blinked, then scoffed, "Three billion dollars in ten minutes?"You think clearing a cross-border transfer is as easy as swiping a black card?"I put the call on speaker.Marcus's voice came through loud and clear. "The Night Owl Fund has $9.6 billion in available cash across its New York custody accounts. Source-of-funds and anti-money-laundering checks are already complete."Please confirm how you want it deployed."Victor's smile froze on his face.Vera spun toward her computer, and Catherine held her breath without realizing it.I didn't have Marcus wire the money straight to the Hawthorne Group.The lenders had already frozen the company's main accounts. Any cash that went in would just be swept right back out."Send the syndicate an irrevocable offer. The Night Owl Fund buys the entire three-billion-dollar loan at par and assumes every obligation due today."Once the loan assignment is complete, waive the cross-default immediately and restore the revolving credit lines for

  • The Useless Wife They All Feared   Chapter 6

    You could have heard a pin drop in the conference room.Victor stared at the four Dons kneeling in a row, and he finally looked rattled."Have you lost your minds? Abyss Capital doesn't pay you forty million dollars a year so you can kneel to some woman!"Enzo shot to his feet and slapped Victor across the face."Shut up! Who do you think you are? You think your money means you can give us orders?"The slap sent Victor stumbling two steps back, and one side of his face swelled up fast.Enzo didn't look at him again. He went over to Luca instead and drove him to his knees with a single kick."Apologize to the Donna."Natalie and the others had lost every bit of their swagger. With their foreheads pressed to the floor, they said in trembling voices, "Donna, we had no idea it was you."Please spare us."I stepped away from Luca and gave the four Dons a cold look."Who gave you permission to do Abyss Capital's dirty work?"All four of them went pale at once.Enzo kept his head down as he e

  • The Useless Wife They All Feared   Chapter 5

    The line went silent for three full seconds.Then the man's urgent voice came through the speaker, filling the conference room. "Marcus here. Standing by. Give the word, Donna."I glanced at Natalie and the others."Get all four Dons here. Ten minutes. Lock this building down. No one gets out unless I say so.""Right away."The call ended, and the conference room stayed silent.Five years ago, I'd staged a yacht explosion, and everyone believed the Night Owl had died somewhere in the Atlantic. Marcus Hale, my second-in-command, had taken over my old organization, and the line had stayed silent ever since.The moment that encrypted channel came back to life, word would spread through the underworld.The Night Owl had returned.Victor burst out laughing. "The Night Owl?"He stared at me like I'd said the most absurd thing imaginable."All this just to save your husband, Mrs. Hawthorne? Quite the performance."Natalie raised her gun again."The Night Owl died five years ago. The four fami

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