Chapter 4
CHAPTER 4 — The Wolves Arrive
Nobody moved.
Garrett was paralyzed by the sheer magnitude of his ruin.
Douglas was staring at the ground, doing the math in his head, realizing his own net worth couldn't cover his son's massive crypto deficit.
And then, a sound shattered the tense silence.
A cell phone began to ring.
It was a harsh, generic marimba ringtone coming from Garrett’s jacket pocket.
Garrett flinched as if he had been shot.
He slowly pulled the phone out.
The caller ID was blocked.
"Don't answer it, Garrett," Douglas warned, his voice trembling for the first time in his life.
But Garrett was operating on pure, blind panic.
His hands were shaking so badly that when he swiped the screen to answer, he accidentally hit the speakerphone button.
"Hello?" Garrett choked out.
A voice echoed from the phone.
It wasn't a corporate debt collector.
It was a low, raspy, terrifyingly calm voice.
"Garrett. It's Mickey."
Garrett let out a whimper. "Mickey, please... I just need a few more days."
"Time's up, kid," the voice on the phone said smoothly.
"We checked the county records this morning. We saw the blind trust transfer."
"We know your sister's farm got bought out by a corporation."
Garrett looked at me, sheer terror radiating from his pale face.
"You... you knew?" Garrett whispered to the phone.
"We make it our business to know everything about our clients, Garrett," Mickey replied.
"We knew your little plan to steal her land was going to fail."
"Which means you are officially out of collateral."
"Mickey, I can get the money! My dad—"
"Your dad is leveraged to the gills on his commercial real estate," Mickey interrupted, citing Douglas's private finances with terrifying accuracy.
Douglas gasped, stumbling backward against his Audi.
"You owe us eight hundred and ninety thousand, Garrett. Plus this month's eighteen percent."
"That brings the total to just over a million."
"We are currently sitting in a black van outside your Manhattan apartment."
"You have exactly two hours to get back to the city and hand over the keys, the deed to the condo, and whatever cash you have left."
"If you aren't here in two hours, we stop being polite."
The line went dead.
A dial tone echoed across my peaceful lavender fields.
Garrett dropped his phone onto the gravel. It shattered on impact.
"Dad..." Garrett sobbed, turning to Douglas. "Dad, you have to help me! They're taking the apartment! They're taking everything!"
Douglas Fry, the arrogant patriarch who had orchestrated this entire morning, finally cracked.
He looked at his son not with love, but with utter disgust.
"You fool," Douglas spat, his voice dripping with venom.
"I bought you that apartment! It was an asset! You leveraged it to street thugs for cryptocurrency?"
"I was trying to double it!" Garrett cried.
"You lost it!" Douglas roared, stepping away from his son as if Garrett was contagious.
"I can't cover a million dollars in liquid cash, Garrett! You've ruined yourself!"
Vivien grabbed Douglas's arm, sobbing hysterically.
"Douglas, do something! Call the police! Call our lawyers!"
"The police won't stop loan sharks from collecting collateral, Vivien!" Douglas snapped, shaking her off.
He looked at Garrett, his eyes cold and dead.
"You are on your own, Garrett."
Douglas turned around, opened the door to his pristine Audi, and got inside.
"Dad! Dad, wait!" Garrett screamed, running toward the car.
But Douglas slammed the door and locked it.
He started the engine, threw the car in reverse, and sped backward down the driveway, leaving his golden child standing in the dust.
Vivien stood frozen, trapped between her fleeing husband and her doomed son.
She looked at me one last time, her eyes pleading for a mercy she had never shown me.
I just stared back, my face a mask of stone.
Vivien turned, ran to her silver Mercedes, and sped off after Douglas.
May you like
The family had completely imploded.
And Garrett was left standing entirely alone.
