Chapter 7 - The Hostile Takeover
Marcus explained that Ryan's girlfriend was a master manipulator using a stolen identity.
She planned to take the house, liquidate the assets immediately, and vanish with the money.
Ryan was just a disposable, gullible pawn in her massive criminal scheme.
She was going to leave my brother with absolutely nothing, exactly as he had done to me.
We sped toward the downtown bank where the final transfer was scheduled to take place.
I left my children safely locked in the unmarked police cruiser with a trusted uniformed officer.
Marcus and I burst through the heavy glass doors of the bank, ignoring the startled security guard.
We ran aggressively toward the branch manager's private office at the back of the building.
I could see Ryan and his girlfriend sitting comfortably at the large mahogany desk.
I kicked the office door open, shattering the quiet, professional atmosphere of the room.
Ryan turned completely pale when he saw me standing there, very much alive and furious.
He stumbled backward, knocking his expensive coffee cup onto the carpet.
He frantically tried to explain that I was supposed to be touring vineyards in Europe.
I slammed my hands onto the manager's desk and demanded he halt the transaction immediately.
The bank manager looked up with a calm, eerily detached expression on his face.
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He casually adjusted his tie and announced that I was far too late.
The funds for the house had already been irreversibly wired to an offshore account ten minutes ago.
