Chapter 5 - The Velvet Noose
With the poisoned code in Julian's hands, I turned my attention to dismantling Chloe's personal life. A parasite can only survive if it has a host. I was going to strip her of everything she thought she owned.
Chloe lived for high society. She breathed exclusivity.
On a Tuesday, Chloe went to her favorite luxury boutique on Fifth Avenue. I received a notification on my phone when she tried to purchase an $80,000 diamond necklace using the platinum card linked to my account.
I tapped a single button on my banking app.
Card Declined.
Chloe called me ten minutes later, her voice tight with embarrassment. "Alexander, darling, the bank made a silly error. My card was declined in front of everyone."
"That's strange," I replied, staring out my office window. "I'll have my assistant look into it. Just use your personal card for now."
"I... well, my funds are tied up in investments," she stammered.
"I'm sure you'll figure it out. I have a board meeting," I said, and hung up.
Next, I targeted her social circle. High society is built on gossip and power. I invited three of the most influential socialites in the city to a private lunch. I didn't explicitly tell them Chloe was out. I simply mentioned, with a heavy sigh, that our wedding planning had hit a "serious legal and financial roadblock" regarding her background checks.
In the elite world, a hint of financial scandal is worse than a plague.
Within forty-eight hours, the velvet noose tightened. Chloe was uninvited from the Met Gala after-party. Her regular table at Le Bernardin was suddenly "unavailable." Her so-called friends stopped answering her texts.
She was suffocating, and she didn't even know who had cut off her oxygen.
She confronted me in the kitchen that Friday, her eyes wild, her perfect hair slightly disheveled. "Alexander, what is going on? My cards are frozen, my friends are ignoring me, and the wedding planner said you paused the catering deposits!"
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I looked up from my newspaper, my expression perfectly blank. "I'm just conducting a standard financial audit, Chloe. As for your friends, I can't control them. Are you feeling well? You look tired."
She stared at me, the first seeds of genuine doubt taking root in her mind. She was beginning to realize that the silent, polite billionaire wasn't weak. He was a spider, and she was already wrapped in the web.
