Chapter 7 - Collateral Damage
Mark Sterling sat in the back of a black town car, his hands trembling as he stared at the NDA in his lap. The rival firm he had worked for—the one he had promised to bring Julian's clients to—had summoned him for an early breakfast meeting.
It hadn't been a meeting. It was an execution.
His CEO had handed him a severance package that was little more than a gag order, stripping him of his unvested stock options and his partnership track. In exchange, they wouldn't press civil charges for dragging their firm's name into a federal embezzlement investigation.
"Sign it, Mark, and walk away," his former boss had said, the tone colder than absolute zero. "You are radioactive. If I see your name anywhere near this company again, I will personally hand over your corporate emails to Julian Thorne's mother. And we both know what that woman can do."
Mark signed it. He had no choice.
As the town car dropped him off at his upscale apartment building, he saw a moving truck parked out front. Two burly men were carrying out a familiar velvet sofa.
He rushed into the lobby. "Hey! What's going on? That's my furniture!"
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The building manager stepped into his path, holding a clipboard. "Mr. Sterling, your rent was paid from an account that has now been frozen by federal authorities. The management company has exercised the immediate eviction clause for criminal liability. We packed your belongings. You have thirty minutes to clear the premises."
Mark stood frozen, watching his life being boxed up and loaded into a truck he couldn't even afford to rent. He pulled out his phone, his thumb hovering over Sarah's contact name. He wanted to scream at her, to blame her for this entire catastrophe. But he knew it was pointless. They had both thought they were the smartest people in the room, completely unaware that Evelyn and Julian had already locked the doors and set the building on fire.
