Chapter 4 - The Hidden Threat
Margaret stared at the glowing screen of her phone in complete silence.
A five-hundred-thousand-dollar debt to a dangerous criminal syndicate was not a simple mistake.
It was a calculated motive.
Margaret immediately believed Claire had only agreed to marry Ethan to save her own life.
She ordered her bodyguards to drive her to Claire's modest apartment on the south side of the city.
The black SUV parked silently across the street from the rundown brick building.
Margaret changed back into her designer clothing and walked up the creaking wooden stairs.
She pounded heavily on apartment door number four.
Claire opened the door, her eyes red from crying.
"I told Ethan not to follow me," Claire said softly.
"Ethan is not here," Margaret replied, pushing her way inside the cramped living room.
Margaret threw a thick manila folder onto the cheap coffee table.
"Did you really think I would let you use my son's bank account to pay off Victor Thorne?" Margaret demanded.
Claire's face went completely pale at the mention of the notorious loan shark.
"How do you know that name?" Claire gasped.
"I know everything, you manipulative gold digger," Margaret snarled.
Noah was standing in the dark hallway, listening to every single word.
He held his breath as his mother began to cry.
"I never asked Ethan for money," Claire sobbed defensively.
"My ex-husband took that loan from Victor Thorne and abandoned us, leaving the cartel to threaten my son's life."
Margaret crossed her arms, completely unmoved by the tears.
"I will pay the debt for you, but you must leave the state tonight and never speak to Ethan again," Margaret offered.
In the hallway, Noah felt his heart shatter into pieces.
His mother was suffering because of his deadbeat biological father.
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Noah silently slipped out the back window of the apartment and climbed down the fire escape.
He knew exactly where Victor Thorne operated, and he was going to fix this himself.
