The Copper Lantern restaurant was completely closed that evening.

Chapter 5: Punishment From the Shadows

"It is me," Elena's voice rang out, steady, clear, and unyielding in the silent dining room. "It is time. Pull everything. Every single cent."

She paused for a fraction of a second to listen to the voice on the other end.

"Yes, immediately," Elena continued smoothly. "Activate the morality clause in the venture capital contracts. Cancel all banking guarantees. Freeze the credit lines. Inform the Board of Directors that the Olympus Investment Fund is officially withdrawing all capital from David Harrington’s holding company, effective this very second."

She ended the call, slipped the phone back into her purse, and crossed her arms, staring down at David.

David sat paralyzed. The Olympus Investment Fund? That was the massive, anonymous shadow fund that had miraculously bailed his company out of bankruptcy five years ago and catapulted him to his current billionaire status. No one knew who stood behind the fund. David had always bragged that his sheer genius had charmed the "ghosts" of Wall Street.

"What... what the hell are you babbling about?" David tried to maintain his superior tone, but a frantic tremor of panic began to leak into his voice. "You're just a retired high school teacher. What the hell is Olympus..."

Elena offered a small, razor-sharp smile. It was a smile of pure, calculated execution.

"Did you really think an arrogant boy with nothing but empty pockets could magically secure a fifty-million-dollar loan out of thin air, David? I used my family's private trust to back your company, simply because my daughter loved you. I stayed in the shadows to protect your fragile male ego. I handed you an empire..."