CHAPTER 4 — The Price of Power
CHAPTER 4 — The Price of Power
The sirens outside grew louder.
Closer.
The building was no longer his.
It was occupied.
Controlled.
Neutralized.
Matthew stepped back as security personnel entered the penthouse—not his guards, not his people.
Mine.
One of them gently helped me sit up.
I winced.
My father didn’t move toward me yet.
He was watching Matthew.
Studying him like a case file.
“You didn’t just hurt her,” my father said quietly. “You humiliated her. You thought isolation would make her compliant.”
Matthew swallowed.
“I loved her.”
That word.
Loved.
It almost made me laugh.
My father nodded slightly.
“That’s not what love looks like,” he replied.
A pause.
Then he added:
“But you’re about to learn what consequence looks like.”
Matthew tried to speak again, but the sound died in his throat as two federal agents stepped forward with a warrant.
His knees almost gave out.
“No—this is corporate—this is private—”
One agent interrupted:
“NexusCore is under federal investigation for fraud, coercion, and financial misconduct.”
Matthew turned toward me desperately.
“Clare, tell them—tell them this is insane—”
I looked at him.
For a long moment.
Not with hatred.
Not with revenge.
Just clarity.
May you like
And I said nothing.
That was my answer.
