Chapter 4

But the Sanchezs moved fast, and rumors spread that more than a dozen securities firms were in talks with them to undo the fallout.

The company investigated me and soon reached its conclusion: my conduct had not been professional and had damaged the firm's interests. I was internally disciplined and demoted to security guard at the company's front gate!

Faced with the sneers and jeers of so many people, I felt nothing inside, but I thought back to that night, to my father lying in the ICU.

I had begged Paige James over the phone to come quickly and save my father.

That heartless woman never showed up.

My father had loved her deeply back then, cared for her in every way, wouldn't even let her do housework, and yet this woman had cheated on him long before.

She dumped me at a group home. When my grandmother came to take me in and saw how skin-and-bones I was, she broke down crying.

With my grandparents caring for me, my childhood was a happy one.

The next day, I was jolted awake by the urgent ringing of my cell phone.

It was Grandpa.

"Egbert, what's going on? A bunch of people came to our house and trampled the tomatoes we planted in the field!"

"That's right, we had a good crop this year, thought we could sell them for a little money, and now what are we supposed to do?"

My grandparents are getting old, and the money I give them they just save. They grow an acre of tomatoes to get by.

Grandpa sent me a few pictures. Bright red tomatoes crushed into the mud, the whole field a sea of red.

"Grandpa, who were they?"

"I don't get it either. Later, Valerie Pruitt, the girl next door, said someone had posted online to cyberbully you."

My grandparents told me to be careful and to let them know if anything came up. Before hanging up, he sent me a picture.

It was a post. Using the keywords, I found the web page.

The headline was eye-catching: A man cheated twenty years ago and drove a heartbroken woman away; twenty years later, his child took private revenge and vetoed a certain company's plan to issue new shares.

Paige James was the one who stabbed my dad in the back, and then she turned around and said my dad had cheated—turning it all against him!

The comment section was full of people cursing me!

"This kind of bastard is rotten to the core, they should haul him off and shoot him!"

"Is this about the Sanchezs? There've been rumors lately that the Sanchezs' new-share offering got vetoed over financial problems, sending the stock to a daily limit-down!"

"The Sanchezs have financial problems? Isn't that a joke?"

Some people even deliberately posted my grandparents' address, egging netizens on to come after me!

Not long after I finished reading the post, someone knocked on my door.

When I went over to look, it turned out to be Captain Lambert from the precinct, come with a few others.

"Egbert Hughes, someone has reported you for financial crimes. You'll need to come with us now."

A chill went through me, and I asked, "Did Paige James report me?"

Captain Lambert stayed expressionless. "I'm sorry, I can't disclose that."

I went with them to give a statement.

The company called to tell me that, because I was suspected of a serious crime, I was being fired.

It was only after forty-eight hours of questioning that the precinct let me out.

At the entrance, Mamie Sanchez stood there with a group of people, looking me over haughtily. "Bastard, take a good look. We've partnered up with your former employer all over again. You did all that for nothing, lost a job with a bright future, and worse still, no one in the industry will ever hire you again."

She wasn't wrong. I'd been a rising star in the securities world, and given time I could have risen to Ronnie Lawrence's position.

But now the Sanchezs had pinned a trumped-up charge on me. After I was detained for investigation, they used paid online trolls to drag me down, claiming I'd committed financial crimes.

No securities firm would ever hire me again.

And I, because of the confidentiality agreement, couldn't reveal a single detail about how I'd vetoed them, or I'd end up behind bars.

"Egbert Hughes, consider this a little welcome gift from me."

Mamie Sanchez tossed me a kraft envelope, laughed loudly, and turned to leave.

I opened it and found a court summons.

They were claiming my actions had caused the Sanchezs both reputational and financial losses, and demanding a hundred million in damages.

I laughed. "Actually, I've got a big gift for you too. See you in court!"