Andrew listened in silence, something heavy forming in his chest.
He moved fast.
He had the man investigated. Phone calls recorded. Threats documented. He arranged a meeting in an abandoned warehouse near the river, pretending to negotiate a settlement.
When the man grew arrogant, bragging openly about extortion and intimidation, Andrew calmly asked him to repeat himself—his phone set to speaker.
When the police sirens cut through the night, the man tried to run.
He didn’t get far.
With Maria and the children finally safe, Andrew believed the nightmare was over.
Then Maria hesitated, hands trembling again.
“There’s something else,” she whispered. “The eviction… the land we were living on.” She swallowed hard. “It was bought by Whitman Development Group. Your company.”
The words crushed him.
“I thought you knew,” she said, crying.
Andrew didn’t sleep that night.
The next morning, he canceled contracts, demanded audits, froze developments, and created an emergency fund to relocate families before any construction could begin. For the first time, he read every report he’d once signed without looking.
A week later, he handed Maria a key.