Zelica looked at Aniya.
“Consider it charity. You need it more than I do.”
She grabbed her tablet and walked out, leaving Aniya frozen in shame, turned into a spectacle for the entire café.
The bait game had worked.
Quacy was humiliated by the urgent need to hand over all his financial documents to Seek’s team. Meanwhile, Zelica humiliated Aniya in the café.
Seek’s team gathered in the war room of the Cascade mansion.
“This isn’t a company, Ms. Zelica,” Seek said, pointing at the large screen showing the cash flow of Quacy Constructions, Inc. “This is a house of cards built on air.”
“Explain,” Zelica said.
“First—materials,” Seek said. “He charges his clients for grade-A cement, but reports show he buys grade-C. He takes a forty percent profit just on material embezzlement. This is illegal and dangerous.”
Zelica remembered a small bridge project Quacy had bragged about. Her stomach turned.
“Second—debts,” Seek continued. “He doesn’t have bank debts. He’s too smart for that. He gets into debt with small suppliers—sand pits, local hardware stores, small equipment rental companies. He delays their payments for months, even years, knowing they don’t have the legal strength to fight him.”
The list of supplier names appeared on the screen. Zelica recognized some names.
“And third—taxes,” Seek said. “He keeps two books. One for himself, one for the IRS. His tax evasion is massive.”
Zelica sat in silence. The man she had been married to for ten years—the man she cared for when he was sick—turned out to be a scammer, an extortionist, and a thief.
“Good,” she said. Her voice was steady.
Seek looked at her.
“Good?”
“Yes. This gives us a weapon. What is the next step?”
“Quacy is only focused on us. On those 2,000 acres,” Seek explained. “He doesn’t realize that his debt to the small suppliers is his weakest point.”
“I want you,” Zelica said slowly. “I want you to buy all that debt.”
Seek smiled.
“I assumed so. I have prepared three shell companies in Delaware. We will buy every outstanding invoice from those suppliers. We will pay cash.”
“The suppliers will be happy,” Zelica said.
“They will be very happy,” Seek replied. “And Quacy will know nothing. He will only feel relieved because the collectors will stop calling him. He will think we are going to give him capital.”
“How much time?” Zelica asked.
“Give me a week. In a week, Quacy Constructions Inc. will no longer owe anything to the small merchants. He will owe you.”
Exactly as Seek predicted, Quacy suddenly felt his life was easier. The calls from angry suppliers stopped. He considered this a good sign. He thought the news that he was going to collaborate with Okafor Legacy Holdings had scared the suppliers off.
He was very wrong.
Feeling the pressure decrease, he decided it was time to take the last step. He had to secure Zelica—not on a business level, but personal.
He knew the old Zelica was weak, forgiving, and still loved him.
He sent a bouquet of white roses, her favorites back then, to the Cascade mansion with a note:
I know I was wrong. Let’s talk like old times. Dinner at our usual spot.
Zelica almost threw the flowers away, but Seek stopped her.
“Go,” he said. “Let him dig his own grave deeper.”
That night, Zelica went to the upscale restaurant where Quacy had once proposed to her.
He was already waiting. He looked impeccable. He ordered the most expensive wine.
“Zel,” he said, taking her hand across the table.
She allowed it. Her skin felt cold.
“I ask for your forgiveness.”
Zelica just looked at him, waiting.
“I know I was very wrong,” Quacy continued. His eyes got misty. His performance was perfect. “Aniya, she is just a toy. I was pressured. Zel, business is hard. And you—you were busy with your mother. I felt lonely.”
“So it was my fault? Was it my fault?” Zelica asked. Her voice was calm.
“No, no, it was my fault,” he rushed to correct himself. “I was blind. I didn’t see the diamond I had until I saw you in the meeting room the other day. I realized.”
“Realized what?”
“How fantastic you are. We can be the best team, Zel. We can start over.”
He leaned in.
“I’ve already left Aniya. She’s already out of the apartment.”
It was a lie. Aniya was shopping with his credit card at that very moment.
“We will dominate Atlanta,” he whispered. “You with your land, me with my expertise. Forget Seek. You don’t need him. You only need me.”
Zelica withdrew her hand slowly.
“Your seduction is good, Quacy. Better than your business presentation,” she said coldly.
He was surprised.
“Maybe you’re right,” Zelica continued, as if thinking.
Hope lit up again in his eyes.
“We really have to fix this,” she said, “but I can’t mix personal and business.”
“Sure, sure. Let’s finish the business matter first,” he agreed.
“I’ve already seen the result of your audit,” Zelica said.
“And?” he asked anxiously.
“We need to talk seriously. Tomorrow in my office at 10:00 a.m. Bring your lawyer if necessary. Once that is over, then we can talk about us.”
She stood up, leaving him with a bottle of expensive wine and a sly smile, thinking he had just won.
At 10:00 a.m. the next morning, in the meeting room of the mansion, Quacy arrived alone, without a lawyer. He brought another bouquet of roses. He was very confident. He thought this meeting was just a formality before he and Zelica reconciled.
He entered the room. The atmosphere was far from romantic.
Zelica was already seated in the head chair. Seek was standing beside her. On the long mahogany table, there were no coffee cups, but stacks of thick legal documents.
“Zel, babe,” Quacy greeted, trying to break the ice with the flowers.
“Sit down, Quacy,” Zelica said, her voice cutting.
He sat. His smile faltered.
“Let’s get to the point,” she said. “Mr. Seek.”
Seek stepped forward, placing a binder of documents in front of him.
“Mr. Quacy, this is the list of debts of Quacy Constructions, Inc.,” Seek said. “To Garcia Aggregates, a total of $100,000. To Bolt Hardware, $50,000. To Iberian Machinery, $200,000, and so on. The total verified debt with twelve suppliers is $500,000.”
Quacy’s face paled.
“What does this mean? I’m negotiating with them.”
“They no longer need negotiation,” Zelica interrupted. “Because everyone has been paid in full.”
He looked at her, confused.
“Paid by whom?”
Zelica pointed to herself.
“By me.”
Seek pushed a second binder of documents toward him.
“Through three investment companies affiliated with Okafor Legacy Holdings LLC, we have acquired or bought all those outstanding invoices. Copies of the debt assignment deeds are in front of you.”
Quacy opened the first sheet. His heart seemed to stop.
“In other words, Mr. Quacy,” Zelica leaned in, looking directly into the eyes of the man who had destroyed her, “your company no longer owes anything to those small merchants.”
She paused, letting the silence fill the room.
“Your company now owes me.”
“Me?”
He couldn’t breathe.
“I can pay. I can pay in installments.”
“Oh, of course,” Zelica said. “But I’m not interested in doing business with you, and I’m not interested in getting back with you. I want my money back.”
She slapped the documents in front of him.
“According to the assignment clause, this debt is due now. You have twenty-four hours to liquidate those five hundred thousand dollars in cash.”
“Twenty-four hours? That’s impossible. No one has that much cash!” he shouted, finally panicking.
“I do,” Zelica replied coldly.
“You—you set a trap for me.”
“A trap?” She stood up. “I am only claiming what is my right, just like you kept all my rights before. If in twenty-four hours you cannot pay…”
She put a third binder of documents on the stack.
“Our legal team will immediately register the lien on that penthouse in the Sovereign, on your office, and on all your heavy machinery. Good morning, Mr. Quacy.”
Twenty-four hours.
He never knew how short twenty-four hours were.
After leaving Zelica’s mansion, he didn’t go back to the apartment. He panicked. He spent the first hour driving aimlessly, cursing Zelica, Seek, and the whole world.
The second hour, he started calling.
He called his bank manager.
“I need a loan of $500,000. The collateral is my project in South Georgia.”
The bank manager laughed on the other end of the phone.
“Quacy, don’t joke. You don’t have that project secured yet. Besides, your credit limit is already tapped out to finance… well, you know.”
He hung up abruptly.
From the third to the tenth hour, he spent calling all his business contacts. Every friend he had invited for expensive wine, every small official he had tipped.
The answer was the same:
“Oof, tough, man.”
Or,
“Sorry, I’m out of town.”
Or they simply didn’t pick up the phone.
The news of his downfall, which somehow started at the mansion meeting, spread faster than fire.
Hour eleven. In his desperation, he returned to the penthouse.
Aniya was trying on a new dress she had just bought that afternoon.
