"Morning? Are you out of your mind? If Adrian sees these videos online, he’ll beat me to a pulp!"
"I’m coming with you."
"No, you stay here. Don't move.
I’m going to tell him you had a medical emergency and need thousands in hospital bills. It’s the only way to squeeze the cash out of him.
And since I'll have to take care of you, I'll have to resign on the spot."
His wife’s eyes gleamed with ruthless pragmatism. "Smart. Tell him I have terminal cancer. Make it sound as tragic as possible."
Norman shook his head. "Cancer doesn't require immediate cash in the middle of the night. If he tells me to wait until morning to go to the bank, I’m dead."
If Adrian saw those videos, it was game over.
"Then tell him I got hit by a car and shattered my legs!"
"Who gets hit by a car at one in the morning?"
Adrian was deeply paranoid.
Norman paced the room. "I’ll say you slipped in the bathroom and shattered your kneecap."
"Perfect."
...
It took every ounce of Norman's acting ability. He cried, he hyperventilated, and he dropped to his knees. It worked flawlessly. He managed to scam his entire backlog of wages from Adrian and formally terminate his employment, completely emptying his quarters of anything valuable.
Ironically, Adrian, whose heart was usually made of stone, felt a pang of pity and handed Norman an extra thousand dollars as a parting gift for his years of service.
"When it rains, it pours," Adrian muttered to Fiona.
Of course, he couldn't legally siphon money out of the dying company—that was a felony, and anyone caught attempting it would do serious time behind bars.
If Mara had succeeded in stealing assets during her previous raid, she would have been locked up. Fortunately for her, she had failed.
But that was beside the point.
Even in ruin, a billionaire still had pocket change. Adrian could easily afford to pay off a few enforcers.
It was still pitch black outside, but Adrian wanted Norman dragged back in chains. However, Norman wasn't an idiot.
Guilty as sin, Norman had floored the gas pedal the second he cleared the estate gates, blowing through red lights and breaking every speed limit in the city.
Technically, Norman had already legally severed his employment. Adrian had no contractual hold over him anymore.
But in the underworld of private wealth, legalities didn't matter, especially not with a confirmed corporate mole. If Adrian’s men caught him and beat him within an inch of his life, the public would just say he had it coming.

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