Todos os capítulos de The Useless Wife They All Feared: Capítulo 1 - Capítulo 10

Before I made that call, the Hawthorne family had already been backed into a corner."They just pulled our last revolving line of credit. If we can't come up with three billion dollars by three p.m., all four fabs shut down and 30,000 employees go without pay."Edward Hawthorne, Arthur's oldest brother, put down his phone. His shirt clung to his back, soaked with sweat.In the boardroom at the Manhattan headquarters, all 12 market screens were a sea of red.Hawthorne Tech's stock had crashed 62 percent, and one overseas settlement account after another had been frozen."Abyss Capital has warned every bank on Wall Street. Any bank that gives us a bridge loan will be their next short target."My father-in-law, Richard Hawthorne, had run the Hawthorne Group for more than 30 years. For the first time, I saw his hand shake as he held his coffee cup.Meanwhile, I sat at the other end of the conference table, flipping through a catalog from a Fifth Avenue jeweler, trying to decide whether the

The moment I pushed open the door and walked into the conference room, Arthur's whole expression changed."What are you doing back here?"I held up the lunch bag. "I brought you lunch.""You shouldn't have come."He strode over and positioned himself in front of me, completely shielding me from view."This has nothing to do with you. Go downstairs with Owen right now."Vera came to stand beside me too and lowered her voice. "Listen to him. They've got guns. You can't handle something like this."Catherine was as blunt as ever, but she put herself between me and Luca. "You can't even watch a chef prep a lobster without crying. What are you doing here? You're only making things worse. Go."My chest tightened a little as I looked at them.For five years, they'd complained that I was too delicate and had no ambition. Behind my back, they said Arthur had spoiled me rotten and made me useless.But when things went wrong, not one of them tried to sacrifice me to save themselves. All they want

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

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

"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