The woman my own family threw into the freezing snow was my wife, while my mother and sister celebrated inside the house they believed they had stolen from us. Their triumph lasted only until my father's attorney walked through the front door with a sealed trust—and the truth about the man they had underestimated turned their victory into the beginning of their downfall.

Victoria and Natalie crawled out from beneath the booth, trembling so hard they could barely stand. Their clothes were stained with spilled alcohol, their hair matted, their eyes filled with a horror far greater than anything they had felt in the snow.

"Ethan..." Victoria squeaked, her voice barely audible. "What... what is this? Who are these men?"

I stood up, adjusting my coat cuffs. "These are the men who keep the world safe for people like you to enjoy expensive wine, Mother."

"You're... you're a criminal?" Natalie whimpered, backing away toward the wall.

"I am the man who controls the city," I corrected her coldly. "My father knew it. He built the legal side of the Carter enterprise, while I built the shield that protected it. He left everything to Claire because he knew she had a pure heart. He knew that if the estate fell into your hands, your greed would destroy our family legacy within a year."

I stepped closer to Victoria. She flinched, pulling back as if I were a demon raised from the abyss.

"You went to a mobster to kidnap my wife," I said, each word laced with absolute lethality. "You traded family blood for money."

"Ethan, please! I'm your mother!" Victoria sobbed, falling to her knees again, clutching her hands together in prayer. "I made a mistake! I was desperate! Forgive me! We'll leave the city! We'll never come back!"

"Oh, you will leave the city," I said smoothly. "But not on your terms."

I turned to Victor. "Call Detective Chief Grayson. Tell him I have a present for him."

Ten minutes later, three marked police cruisers pulled up outside the club, sirens flashing red and blue against the snowy street.

Chief Grayson—a high-ranking police official who owed his career to my shadow network—walked into the lounge, accompanied by four uniformed officers. He didn't even look at the dead and injured mobsters on the floor; his eyes went straight to me.

"Mr. Carter," Grayson said respectfully, tipping his hat. "How can the department assist you tonight?"

"Chief Grayson," I said, pointing to Victoria, Natalie, and Richard Sterling. "These three individuals orchestrated a conspiracy to commit kidnapping, extortion, and attempted murder against my wife, Claire Carter. I have full audio recordings from this room, as well as confession statements."

Grayson turned to his officers. "Handcuff them."

"Wait! No! You can't arrest us!" Natalie shrieked as an officer grabbed her wrists, slapping cold steel cuffs onto her. "We are Carters! We own this town!"

"You don't own anything, Miss Carter," Chief Grayson said coldly. "And frankly, after what you did to your sister-in-law, you're lucky Mr. Carter is letting the law handle you."

As the officers dragged Victoria and Natalie out into the freezing night toward the waiting squad cars, Victoria looked back at me one last time, her eyes filled with desperate, agonizing regret.