Chapter 4 - The House of Cards
Patricia frowned, looking down at the drive. "What is this?"
"That," I said, my voice perfectly level, carrying a cold, heavy authority I had never used before, "is the unencrypted server data from the wealth management firm you used to transfer my father's assets. Specifically, it is the raw timestamp data proving that you forged his signature on the secondary trust document three days after his doctors placed him in a coma."
All the blood instantly drained from Patricia's face. The pristine white of her coat suddenly seemed to match her skin.
Celeste scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Oh, please. What is she talking about, Mother? She's bluffing."
"I am not bluffing, Celeste," I said, locking my gaze on my stepsister. "And neither are the FBI, who received a duplicate of that drive at 7:00 AM this morning from an anonymous, highly protected source."
Patricia stumbled backward, her hand flying to her throat as if she were suffocating. "How... how did you get this? That firm is impenetrable. My lawyers assured me—"
"Your lawyers," a deep, terrifying voice echoed from the doorway, "are currently sitting in a windowless room in a warehouse in Brooklyn, explaining to my associates exactly how much of my infrastructure they utilized for your petty theft."
Patricia and Celeste whipped around.
Giovanni Campone stood in the doorway of the coffee shop. He wasn't wearing a tuxedo today. He was wearing a dark, tailored overcoat, flanked by Mateo and three massive men who looked entirely out of place in a cozy neighborhood café. The sheer, overwhelming gravity of his presence sucked the remaining oxygen out of the room.
Celeste let out a terrified whimper, shrinking behind her mother.
Giovanni didn't look at them. He walked directly to the counter, his eyes only on me. He reached out and gently tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear, an incredibly intimate gesture that made Celeste physically flinch.
"Did they deliver the eviction notice?" Giovanni asked me softly.
"They did," I replied, a small, genuine smile breaking across my face.
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Giovanni finally turned to look at Patricia. The warmth in his eyes vanished, replaced by the dead, cold stare of a predator.
"It's a bold strategy, Patricia," Giovanni said smoothly. "Attempting to evict the legal owner of a property. Unfortunately, since the FBI has already frozen all assets tied to your fraudulent shell company, you no longer possess the authority to evict a stray dog, let alone the true heir to the Hayes estate."
