Chapter 6 - The Debt Behind the Velvet Curtains
At 6:15 AM, the double doors of the private hospital wing opened.
Two of my Black Watch operators escorted thirty-year-old Valerie Harrington into the hallway.
She wore a designer mink coat, her platinum blonde hair disheveled, clutching her leather purse in terrified fury.
"Gareth!" Valerie screamed, pointing a trembling finger at me. "Tell these thugs to let me go! You are an unemployed warehouse clerk! How dare you have armed men drag me out of my apartment!"
Marcus stepped forward, unzipping her leather tote bag and pulling out the forged property transfer deed.
I walked over, taking the document from Marcus’s hand.
I tore the forged transfer cleanly in half, then tore it into four pieces, letting the white scraps fall like dead snowflakes over Valerie’s diamond-studded boots.
Valerie stopped breathing. Her eyes darted from my face to the four armed operators standing at rigid military attention behind me.
"You slapped my wife across the face, Valerie," I said softly, my voice smooth and level. "You helped your mother drag her through the snow without shoes."
"She was being stubborn!" Valerie shrieked, backing into the wall. "She was hoarding Dad’s money while Christopher and I were drowning in debt! She owed us that land!"
"Samantha owed you nothing," I answered. "Your father gave you education, trust funds, and luxury homes, and you threw them away in casino pits. And now, you will pay for every centimeter of skin my wife lost in that frost."
Julian Hayes handed Valerie a stamped court notice:
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‘ORDER OF ATTACHMENT: All private residences, bank accounts, and personal vehicle titles registered to Valerie Harrington and Christopher Harrington are officially frozen under emergency maritime restitution liens.’
Valerie collapsed against the wall, sliding down onto the floor, weeping in bitter, hopeless panic.
