Chapter 14: The Geneva Execution
I didn't want him to just lose his company. I wanted him to understand exactly who had taken it from him.
At noon, Cassian and I arrived at the European headquarters of Croft Holdings, located in a massive glass tower in the financial district of Geneva. The lobby was in absolute chaos. Employees were frantic, packing boxes, while security guards stood by looking lost.
We bypassed the front desk. The private security detail flanking us—led by a massive operative named Marcus—cleared the path directly to the executive elevators.
When we stepped onto the top floor, the atmosphere was a suffocating nightmare of panic. We walked directly into Damian Croft’s massive corner office.
Croft was standing behind his desk, his tie undone, his hair disheveled, shouting hysterically into a phone.
"What do you mean you're freezing the accounts?! I need an extension! Just give me twenty-four hours to restructure!" Croft screamed, his face red with desperation. He threw the phone violently against the wall, shattering it, as he finally noticed us standing in his doorway.
He froze. The arrogant, condescending billionaire from the gala the night before was entirely gone. He looked like a cornered animal.
"Serena," Croft choked out, his hands shaking as he gripped the edge of his desk. "You... you defrauded me! That division was an empty shell! You sold me toxic debt!"
"I didn't sell you anything, Damian," I replied smoothly, walking slowly into the office, my stilettos clicking sharply on the hardwood floor. Cassian stayed by the door, a lethal, immovable barrier preventing any escape. "You executed a hostile, unsolicited takeover. You were so desperate to steal from a woman you deemed weak that you didn't bother to conduct a zero-level forensic audit on the assets. You bought a ticking time bomb because your ego blinded you."
"The banks are seizing the firm," Croft sobbed, tears of pure, selfish frustration spilling down his face. "My father’s firm. It's gone. I have nothing left."
"You have exactly what you earned," I stated coldly, stopping just inches from his desk. "You looked at my family, my motherhood, and my peace, and you saw a weakness to exploit. You thought I was a figurehead. You thought Cassian was holding my leash."
Cassian let out a dark, booming laugh. "She holds mine, Croft. She always has."
"I have lawyers," Croft stammered, a final, pathetic attempt at defiance. "I'll sue Kensington Global for misrepresentation!"
"You can't afford a lawyer, Damian," I pointed out practically. "Your personal accounts were frozen by the Swiss regulatory board ten minutes ago pending a fraud investigation into your leveraged loans. You are officially destitute."
I reached into my designer handbag, pulled out a perfectly pressed, twenty-franc note, and dropped it onto his desk.
May you like
"For a cab," I said softly, my eyes devoid of any mercy. "Since your corporate cars are currently being repossessed in the parking garage below us."
I turned my back on the weeping, ruined man. I walked out of the office, Cassian falling into step perfectly beside me. We left Damian Croft alone in a glass tower he no longer owned, screaming into the void of his own absolute destruction.
