Chapter 4: The Extraction
The executive boardroom of Daniel’s investment firm was an opulent sanctuary of intimidation. It occupied the top floor of a glass skyscraper, offering panoramic views of the city. It featured a massive, thirty-foot polished mahogany table, plush leather chairs, and an atmosphere designed to project absolute, unshakeable wealth.
Daniel kicked open the heavy double doors at exactly noon.
He stormed into the room, his tie loose, his hair disheveled, the golden-boy facade entirely pulverized by hours of mounting panic. He expected to find Margaret sitting alone, terrified, ready to negotiate a tearful surrender. He expected to bully her, threaten her with his lawyers, and drag Anna back to the house to silence her.
“Where is my wife, Margaret?” Daniel snarled, marching toward the table. “You think you can steal her from me? You think you can freeze my money? I will bury you!”
The room was deadly, suffocatingly quiet.
Margaret sat at the absolute head of the long mahogany table. She was impeccably dressed in a sharp, tailored charcoal suit, her silver hair pulled back flawlessly. She did not look like a frightened mother. She looked like a judge presiding over a tribunal.
She didn’t flinch as Daniel approached. She didn’t raise her voice.
Margaret slid a thick, heavy, red-stamped dossier across the polished wood of the table. It came to a stop directly in front of Daniel.
“I didn’t steal her, Daniel,” Margaret stated, her voice echoing with a freezing, absolute authority that made Daniel involuntarily pause his approach. “I excised you.”
Daniel looked down at the dossier. His name was printed on the front, alongside the terrifying seal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
“Inside that folder,” Margaret commanded smoothly, “are the official, verified forensic pathology reports of Anna’s injuries, documented by a team of trauma surgeons. The injuries have been formally classified by the District Attorney as aggravated battery, torture, and attempted manslaughter.”
