Chapter 83

Adrian walked out of the police station looking completely drained.

The evening sun was still painfully bright, catching on the creases in his jacket. His lips were dry, his usually immaculate hair had fallen into disarray, and exhaustion showed in every line of his face.

A black Mercedes was already waiting by the curb.

Diana Cole got out the moment she saw him.

"Adrian!"

She hurried over and grabbed him by the shoulders, her face tight with worry.

"What happened? How did you get involved in something like this? You—"

"Mom. Let's talk in the car."

Adrian glanced warily toward the security cameras outside the station before guiding his mother into the back seat.

The doors closed, shutting out the noise from the street.

Adrian leaned back against the leather seat, closed his eyes, and rubbed his temples hard. Then he gave her a brief account of what had happened.

The moment Diana heard Elena's name, her expression darkened.

"That little bitch again. I knew it." Her voice turned cold. "I knew that face was nothing but trouble."

Adrian opened his mouth, but Diana cut him off.

"If she wants to degrade herself by becoming some old man's mistress, what does that have to do with you? Why were you investigating her? A woman like that is worth risking your future and getting tangled up in a criminal investigation?"

Adrian had no answer for that.

"I didn't know it would turn into this. I just wanted to know who the man was. I wasn't trying to do anything else."

"And Derek Walsh? You hear a name like that and you still think he's trustworthy? Getting involved with people like him is exactly how you end up dragged into their mess."

The angrier Diana became, the more she scolded him. She pinched his arm several times for good measure before turning her anger back toward Elena.

"That woman has completely scrambled your brain!"

Then she started on Elena again.

"Once this blows over, we'll put everything about her online and make sure everyone knows what kind of woman she really is. Let's see what happens to her precious reputation then."

"Mom."

Adrian shook his head.

"A lot of people know Elena used to be my girlfriend. If her reputation gets destroyed, how does that help me?"

Diana looked at him.

"Once you've both graduated, who's going to care that you dated years ago? But she definitely has more to lose from a ruined reputation than you do."

A sharp ringtone cut through the car.

Diana pulled out her phone.

It was a call from the company's chief financial officer.

"Hello?"

Her irritation hadn't faded.

"I told you I was dealing with Adrian's situation this afternoon. Send routine company reports directly to—"

"We have a serious problem."

The CFO sounded panicked.

"At two this afternoon, Capital Metropolitan Bank's corporate lending division contacted us. They're claiming there's a technical documentation deficiency in our three-hundred-million supply-chain financing facility. They want supplemental documents and an additional third-party guarantee immediately."

Diana frowned.

"What documentation deficiency?"

"They said if we can't cure it within forty-eight hours, they'll exercise the early-repayment provisions in the loan agreement."

"That makes no sense. The facility was approved six months ago. How can they suddenly discover a defect now?"

"I thought the same thing," the CFO said helplessly. "But the bank is being extremely firm. They say their compliance department found it during an internal audit."

He hesitated.

"And it isn't just Capital Metropolitan. Northern Commercial Bank called too. Another one of our facilities has suddenly been placed under enhanced risk review."

"What?"

Diana's face hardened.

"One bank might be a coincidence. Two banks at the same time definitely isn't."

She thought quickly.

"Contact our regulatory counsel and anyone we know in banking oversight. Find out what's going on. If we need to inject additional funds temporarily, we'll do it."

A bad feeling had already begun creeping over her.

"Anything else?"

"Yes."

She heard papers shifting on the other end.

"Northgate Logistics Hub just sent us a formal notice. They claim a routine fire-safety inspection found several compliance issues at the cold-storage warehouse we lease—corridor clearance, unclear emergency-exit signage, things like that."

The CFO drew a breath.

"They've suspended all inbound and outbound shipments until the deficiencies are corrected."

"Suspended?"

Diana sat straighter.

"What are we supposed to do with three hundred tons of fresh inventory? Let it rot?"

She pressed her fingers against her forehead.

"Contact the logistics hub immediately. Find out exactly what needs to be corrected and whether the inspection and remediation can be expedited. Then call our customers. Tell them we've run into a temporary logistics issue and some deliveries may be delayed by two days."

Before the call even ended, another message appeared on Diana's phone.

It came from their largest supplier group.

She read it once.

Her face went dark.

She immediately called.

"Ms. Cole."

The man on the other end sounded awkward.

"I'm really sorry about this. Our board recently approved a strategic shift. We're going to concentrate more of our resources on partnerships with larger market leaders, so for some of our other partners... well, you know how business is. Relationships change."

Diana nearly exploded.

"We've worked together for almost five years. Our order volume increased in both of the last two quarters."

"I know. I know."

He sounded even more uncomfortable.

"It isn't personal. This came from above, and there's nothing I can do about it. We'll fulfill every existing contract on time and according to specification, of course. But as for new orders... I'm afraid we won't be able to accept them."

The call ended with impeccable politeness and absolute finality.

Diana sat frozen.

Then she slowly turned toward Adrian.

"What the hell is going on?"

Surely companies weren't cutting ties with them simply because Adrian had been taken in for questioning.

That would be absurd.

He hadn't even been charged with anything.

"Mom."

Adrian frowned.

"I'll ask around too. Something about this isn't right."

He sent messages to several people he knew.

Eventually, after hesitating for a moment, he contacted Victoria.

First, he told her that he had been released and insisted the entire situation was a misunderstanding.

Then he explained what was suddenly happening to his family's company.

Victoria didn't respond for several minutes.

When she finally did, she said she would ask around.

For the next three hours, Diana barely put down her phone.

She called everyone she could think of.

Through a friend with regulatory connections, she finally managed to learn what Capital Metropolitan Bank meant by its so-called documentation deficiency.

In plain terms, the bank had found several minor technical details that could be interpreted as noncompliant if someone chose to scrutinize them closely.

Under ordinary circumstances, no one would have cared.

But if the bank wanted to make an issue of them, the loan agreement gave it enough room to reopen the risk review and demand additional documentation.

Diana then called several business contacts she had known for years, hoping someone could persuade the supplier group to reconsider.

Every attempt produced essentially the same answer.

No.

The decision was final.

When it came to the logistics hub, however, Diana had learned her lesson.

This time, she went there personally, bringing a very generous "donation" for one of the senior administrators. Not long afterward, she was assured that the necessary corrections and reinspection would be expedited.

Adrian's father was still overseas.

That left Diana to handle everything herself.

For hours, she smiled at people she didn't want to smile at, asked favors she didn't want to ask, and spent money she hadn't expected to spend.

By the time she finally returned home that night, exhaustion had caught up with her.

She sank onto the sofa and pressed a hand to her chest.

The old episodes of chest tightness and palpitations she occasionally suffered from were beginning to flare again. Her temples throbbed painfully, while her lower back had become so stiff and sore that even sitting upright was uncomfortable.

Adrian wanted to help, but corporate crisis management was far outside his expertise.

"Mom, is there anything I can do?"

Diana kept one hand pressed to her chest. Even speaking seemed to take effort now.

"Have any of your friends gotten back to you?"

Adrian was about to answer.

Diana's eyes suddenly closed.

Her body went limp.

"Mom!"

The Cole household erupted into chaos.