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At my own birthday party, my husband tied me to a ceiling beam and whipped me thirty times because I had spilled wine on his mistress’s dress. He laughed as fifty guests watched me endure the humiliation, but when they finally cut me down, I made one phone call to my five brothers, and seconds later, the mansion gates slammed shut. / Chapter 6 / 10

Chapter 6 - Desperate BeggarsBy Wednesday afternoon, forty-eight hours after my birthday party, the Cole family had lost everything.

Their accounts were frozen, their construction sites were shut down by federal inspectors, and their corporate headquarters had been seized. The wealthy elite of Silicon Valley, who had cheered and laughed as Adrian humiliated me at the party, had completely disowned them. Nobody took their calls. Nobody offered a dime.

Margaret Cole sat in her grand living room, surrounded by half-packed boxes. The estate was scheduled for auction by the end of the week to pay off corporate debts.

Adrian burst into the room, his eyes bloodshot, his clothes disheveled. He looked twenty years older.

"She won't take my calls," Adrian panicked, tearing his hair. "I went to her brothers' office building, and security threw me out onto the street! Vanessa’s phone is disconnected! Her apartment is empty!"

"That girl was a parasite!" Margaret wailed, dabbing her eyes with a silk handkerchief. "I told you not to trust her, Adrian! You destroyed us for a blonde grifter!"

"You laughed at the party, Mom!" Adrian screamed back, his voice cracking with rage. "You called Elena a nobody! You told me to teach her a lesson!"

"Because she WAS a nobody!" Margaret shrieked. "How was I supposed to know her brothers were the Morettis?! They never acted like it!"

Before they could escalate their argument, the heavy front doors swung open once more.

Matteo and Gabriel walked into the foyer, flanked by four movers in gray uniforms.

"What are you doing in my house?!" Margaret demanded, rising weakly from her sofa.

"Correction," Gabriel said, pulling out a legal deed. "This house was put up as collateral for Cole Construction's bond agreements. Since the company defaulted this morning, the deed has transferred to the primary creditor: Blackwood Global."

"You're kicking us out?!" Adrian gasped.

"In thirty minutes," Matteo replied, crossing his arms. "The movers are here to take the furniture. You have half an hour to gather your personal belongings in trash bags."

"Trash bags?!" Margaret gasped in horror. "I am Margaret Cole! I have lived in this estate for thirty years!"

"And now you're leaving," Matteo said without an ounce of pity.

Adrian looked at Matteo, his arrogance completely shattered. He fell to his knees on the Persian rug, crawling toward Matteo’s boots.

"Please, Matteo," Adrian whimpered, tears spilling down his face. "Please... let me talk to Elena. I'll apologize. I'll get on my knees in front of the press! I'll do whatever she wants! Just ask her to stop this! We can work it out!"

Matteo looked down at the pathetic man kneeling at his feet—the same man who had tied his little sister to a beam and whipped her while laughing.

Matteo raised his boot and pushed Adrian back dismissively.

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Gabriel checked his watch. "Twenty-nine minutes remaining, Mr. Cole. I suggests you start packing."

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Chapter 7 - The Trial of Adrian ColeThree months later.
Chapter 8 - Reclaiming the LightSix months after the trial.
Chapter 9 - Shadows of the PastThat evening, my brothers and I gathered at our family's ancestral home in the hills for dinner. It was a traditions we had neglected during my two years of marriage to Adrian, but now, it felt like coming home.
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