Rise Of The Ice Lord

6

"You lying tramp!" Genevieve shrieked. Her voice cracked with venom as she lunged forward. She aimed her manicured nails right for the face of Nerida.

The wealthy residents of Blackwood Crest watched the violence unfold in shock.

Before Genevieve could cross the property line, a massive contractor stepped into her path. He belonged to the private firm Rowan had hired for the night. The guard raised a heavily armored arm. He blocked Genevieve with ease and shoved her backward onto the wet pavement.

"Step back," the guard ordered. His hand rested near his utility belt. "You are trespassing on private property."

Nerida cowered behind the imposing security team. She pointed a trembling finger at Torin to save her own skin.

"It is the truth!" Nerida cried out. "Everyone needs to know what he did. Torin threatened to ruin my life if I did not sleep with him."

She squeezed out another fake tear for the audience. "He forced me into his bedroom. It was against my consent. He is a monster!"

Torin turned a sickly shade of gray. The elite neighbors were already pulling out their phones to record the scandal. The whispers grew into a loud buzz of condemnation.

Rowan watched the pathetic display with dead eyes. He did not feel an ounce of pity for Nerida or her fabricated tears.

"That is enough," Rowan said. His voice cut through the chaos like a frozen blade.

He looked at Orson Drake. "Escort these people back to their house. Use whatever physical force is necessary."

Rowan turned his back on the crowd. "We have a bunker to finish building tonight."

He pointed toward the idling flatbeds. "Those heavy transport trucks are carrying enough water filtration units to last a decade. I want the perimeter secured right now."

"Understood," Orson nodded respectfully.

He signaled three other tactical contractors. They moved forward in unison. They pushed Genevieve, Harlan, and Torin away from the construction site with heavy shoves.

The Sterling family stumbled back onto their own pristine driveway. The heavy doors of their estate slammed shut behind them to block out the stares of their neighbors.

Genevieve threw her designer purse against the marble wall of the foyer. The leather slapped against the stone with a sharp c***k.

"This does not make any sense!" Genevieve screamed. Her chest heaved with uncontrolled rage. "Where did he get that kind of money? We controlled his life!"

Harlan paced back and forth across the hardwood floor. He rubbed his temples in extreme frustration as he tried to calculate the financial reality of the night.

"You are right. It makes zero logical sense," Harlan muttered. "I deliberately gave him an entry level security guard position at my corporate building. I paid him minimum wage."

Harlan clenched his fists. "I made him pay rent for his own bedroom in this house. We purposefully kept him broke so he could never afford to escape our control."

"Exactly!" Genevieve paced frantically beside him. "He never had a spare dime to his name!"

"And now he is buying the Alderwood estate with cash?" she shrieked. "He is hiring private security contractors? It costs tens of millions just to pour that much concrete for a foundation!"

"We need to sue him," Harlan snarled. His face turned red with anger. "We need to freeze his assets immediately. He must have stolen from my company accounts."

Genevieve stopped pacing. Her eyes widened with frantic realization as a cold truth washed over her.

"We cannot sue him for his personal assets," Genevieve snapped back.

"Did you forget what happened at the law firm this morning? We signed a legal severance agreement."

Harlan froze in his tracks. The reality of his own signature hit him like a physical blow.

"We legally renounced all claims to his property and his finances," Genevieve whispered in horror. "We severed the ties voluntarily."

"We cannot touch a single penny of his wealth through the courts."

Torin sat down heavily on the velvet sofa in the living room. His jaw throbbed from the brutal slap Rowan had delivered earlier.

However, a calculating look was slowly replacing his initial shock. The golden child of the Sterling family was already formulating a new angle of attack.

"Do not panic," Torin said quietly. "You are looking at this the wrong way."

Genevieve glared at him. "Our reputation is ruined. The stray dog we kept in the attic is now a billionaire living next door."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "How exactly should we look at this situation?"

"Look at the person, not the money," Torin smiled darkly. "We watched Rowan grow up. We built his psychological profile."

Torin leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "He has a deeply ingrained poverty mindset. You can give a peasant a billion dollars, but he will still think like a peasant."

"He is desperate for affection. He is soft. He cannot hold onto power."

Harlan narrowed his eyes. He was intrigued by the twisted logic of his son. "What are you suggesting, Torin?"

"I am suggesting that we do not need the courts to take his money," Torin replied. "We just need the right leverage."

"He thinks he won tonight because he humiliated us. But he is still vulnerable to the people he trusts."

Torin looked at his mother. "Do you remember Harper Collins?"

Genevieve paused. Her brow furrowed as she searched her memory. The name sounded familiar to her.

"Harper?" Genevieve asked. "You mean the girl from the university science department? The closest friend Rowan ever had?"

"Exactly," Torin nodded. His smile widened into a predatory grin.

Genevieve uncrossed her arms. Her expression turned cold.

"I remember her," Genevieve said. "She was the only person who ever visited him here."

"I remember looking out the kitchen window and seeing them talk in the garden. It was the only time Rowan ever looked happy."

"They trusted each other," she concluded.

"He would do anything for her," Harlan added. "Rowan protects the people he cares about. It is his biggest flaw."

"Exactly. He thinks Harper is his safe space," Torin said. "He thinks she is his loyal confidant."

"But Rowan is stupid."

Genevieve walked closer to the sofa. Her eyes gleamed with malicious hope. "What do you mean, Torin? What have you done?"

"I mean that Rowan does not know how the real world works," Torin said smoothly.

He leaned back into the velvet cushions. He was satisfied with his own brilliance and foresight.

"I knew Harper was his weak spot over a year ago. So I bought her."

Harlan raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You bought her?"

"Everyone has a price," Torin scoffed arrogantly. "Harper needed money for her sick father."

"Rowan was too broke to help her, but I was not. I gave her the cash she needed for the medical bills."

Torin pulled out his phone and tapped the screen to open a hidden message thread. "And in exchange, she reports everything back to me. She has been spying on him for twelve months."

Genevieve gasped. A wicked smile spread across her face as the pieces fell into place.

"Every secret he shared, every pathetic dream he had, she texted it directly to my phone," Torin laughed.

"Harper Collins belongs to me," Torin declared. "She is probably sitting in her apartment right now waiting for my orders."

"Rowan thinks he is safe in his new fortress. He thinks steel walls and private guards can protect him."

Torin locked his phone and tossed it onto the glass coffee table. "But he is going to invite the enemy right through his front door."

Genevieve let out a slow, breathless laugh.

"You brilliant boy," Genevieve whispered. "If Harper tells him she is in danger, he will give her anything she asks for."

"He will hand over the fortune," Torin agreed. His eyes shone with greed.

"Let him build his fortress. Let him spend all that money."

"When he is finished, Harper will c***k him open, and we will take it all."