CHAPTER 1: THE FREEZE
By the time Andrew woke up, his empire was already suffocating.
At 6:03 a.m., his phone exploded with notifications—missed calls, urgent emails, red-flag alerts from every financial system he thought he controlled.
Accounts: Frozen.
Credit lines: Revoked.
Pending deals: Terminated overnight.
“What the hell is this?” he shouted, storming into his office, still half-dressed.
His CFO was already there. Pale. Sweating.
“It’s… it’s all tied to a single holding structure,” the man stammered. “We thought it was offshore. Anonymous. But it’s not.”
Andrew’s stomach dropped. “Then who owns it?”
The CFO swallowed hard. “Mariana Escalante.”
Silence.
May you like
Not confusion. Not denial.
Just pure, suffocating dread.
