Chapter 15 - Thorne Industries in FreefallBy Wednesday afternoon, the financial shockwaves of Abraham’s return had triggered an unprecedented catastrophe at Thorne Industries headquarters.
Federal banking regulators, armed with the forensic accounting files Marcus had provided, descended upon the corporate towers with search warrants. Thorne Industries' stock plummeted twenty-eight percent within the first hour of trading, triggering circuit breakers and forcing an emergency suspension of shares.
Julian Thorne sat at his desk in the top-floor executive suite, his tie discarded, his hair disheveled, staring blankly at the flashing computer monitors displaying the catastrophic market crash.
The heavy oak doors of his office burst open without warning.
Aiden Thorne, Julian’s ruthless younger brother and chief legal counsel, stormed into the room holding a thick stack of emergency injunction notices.
"Julian, we are completely finished!" Aiden shouted, slamming the papers onto the glass desk. "The federal attorney general just filed formal criminal indictments for securities fraud, perjury, and witness tampering! Our corporate accounts in Zurich have been frozen by international courts!"
Julian looked up, his eyes bloodshot and hollow. "It’s Abraham. He’s behind all of it. He somehow survived federal prison and rebuilt his entire criminal syndicate from the shadows."
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"I don't care how he did it!" Aiden yelled, pacing furiously across the Persian rug. "If we don't liquidate our remaining domestic assets and flee the country by midnight, the federal marshals are going to lock us in a cell beside him!"
"Flee?" Julian whispered, a bitter, broken laugh escaping his lips. "Flee to where, Aiden? Abraham owns half the shipping ports in Europe and controls the private security syndicates from New York to Tokyo. There is nowhere on earth left to hide from the Ghost Maestro."
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