Chapter 4 - The House of Cards Collapses
The next morning, the financial world of the city was completely turned upside down.
The news broke on every major business network before the stock market even opened.
Vanguard Holdings had officially called in all outstanding debts from Morgan Enterprises.
Daniel Morgan was ruined.
I sat in my spacious, glass-walled office at the very top of the Vanguard Tower, sipping black coffee.
My executive assistant, Sarah, walked in holding a glowing tablet.
"Sir, Daniel Morgan has called twenty-four times in the last hour alone," Sarah reported professionally.
"He is begging for a five-minute meeting to negotiate terms."
"Block his number," I ordered, staring out at the sprawling city skyline below.
"What about your son, sir?" Sarah asked softly, knowing the personal history.
"He has been sitting in the lobby downstairs since six in the morning."
My heart gave a painful, familiar squeeze, but I maintained my strict composure.
"Let him sit there," I said, turning back to my paperwork.
Down in the massive marble lobby, Lion was experiencing a reality he never thought possible.
He was sitting on a cold leather bench, surrounded by executives in thousand-dollar suits.
He stared at the massive gold letters on the wall that proudly read 'Vanguard Holdings'.
Everything he thought he knew about his entire life was a carefully constructed lie.
His father wasn't a poor, struggling gardener who barely made ends meet.
His father was a king.
And Lion realized, with sickening clarity, that he had traded his place in the kingdom for a fake smile from a gold-digger.
Meanwhile, at the Morgan mansion, sheer panic had completely taken over.
Bank representatives were already outside on the lawn, placing foreclosure notices on the heavy iron gates.
Daniel was pacing the living room wildly, tearing his thinning hair out.
Sofia was screaming at her mother, loudly blaming Evelyn for the entire disaster.
"You told me to marry the engineer because he was desperate and easily manipulated!" Sofia shrieked.
"You didn't tell me his father was a secret billionaire who owned our lives!"
"Call Lion right now!" Daniel roared at his daughter, his face purple with rage.
May you like
"Beg him, cry, sleep on his doorstep, do whatever you have to do!"
"If you don't marry that boy, we will be living on the streets by Friday!"
