Chapter 8
Chloe watched her fantasy of becoming Mrs. Carter collapse in front of her.
The fragile act she had maintained for years finally
shattered. She screamed at Ryan in the middle of the ballroom.
You promised me. You said once the company was stable,
you’d make our relationship official, dump Claire, and marry
me. Now I’m walking away with nothing.”
Her eyes were red and her makeup streaked with tears. She
pointed at Ryan and raged without caring how the guests. stared.
Ryan was already reeling from the loss of his business
partners. Having Chloe expose their private promises in
public made him feel even more humiliated.
He turned on her with open disgust.
Stop lying. Claire is the only woman I love. When did I ever
say I would marry you? You imagined a future that never
existed, crossed every boundary, and disrupted my life.
Whatever happens to you now is your own fault.”
Cornered by his denial, Chloe stopped holding back.
“You think you’re any better? You’re the biggest coward I’ve
ever met. You do whatever you want, then hide the moment there are consequences.
“You think blaming me will save you? I kept evidence of
everything, including the revenue you falsified, the company funds you diverted, and the partnership agreements you forged.
You want to cut me loose? Dream on.”
The ballroom stirred. The business leaders in attendance no longer looked amused.
My expression hardened. Without hesitation, I called
Hartwell Capital’s general counsel and instructed our team to preserve Chloe’s allegations and forward the evidence to the SEC and state regulators.
Ryan sank to the floor as he realized there was no way back.
Nothing remained of the triumphant groom who had entered the ballroom.
The wedding was officially over.
Guests shook their heads as they left, abandoning a room
littered with torn paper, broken glass, and ruined decorations.
Regulators opened an investigation soon afterward, and the
evidence substantiated Chloe’s claims,
Without Hartwell Capital’s funding, and with the fraud
exposed, Carter Dynamics ran out of cash.
Creditors descended, demanding payment. He lost everything
and filed for bankruptcy within months.
But Ryan refused to accept that his life had collapsed.
For a long time afterward, he kept finding ways to harass me.
Some days, he waited outside my office to apologize and beg me to invest again.
When remorse failed, he changed tactics.
He offered higher returns and equity in future projects, trying
to tempt me back into the deal.
rejected every plea, promise, and threat.
When he got nowhere with me, he went after Claire.
But he had hurt her too deeply. She blocked every number
and account he used and moved out of the condo they had shared before the wedding.
After every door closed, Ryan abandoned his last pretense of civility.
One evening, he blocked my car. He lowered his voice, his face tight with rage.
Evelyn Hart, you drove me into a corner. You took everything from me. If I can’t have my life back, I’ll destroy yours too.”
The darkness made his expression look even more unhinged.
met his stare with a calm, cold smile.
“Go ahead. Try.”