Chapter 5 - THE BROKEN PROMISEAlexander Hartwell sat frozen, his mouth slightly open, his hands gripping the edges of the marble table.
"No," he muttered, shaking his head. "No, this... this isn't binding. It was a street game. A joke. A child can't legally bind a hundred-million-dollar contract without legal representation and corporate board approval!"
The murmur of the crowd instantly turned ugly. Boos and catcalls began to ring out from the surrounding onlookers.
"Pay the boy!" someone shouted from the back.
"Coward! Billionaire cheat!" yelled another.
Alexander stood up abruptly, knocking his chair over backward. His face was twisted in an ugly, mask-like fury. He pointed a trembling, manicured finger straight at Ethan's face.
"Listen to me, you little street rat," Alexander hissed, his voice trembling with humiliated rage. "I don't care about your cardboard board. I don't care about your dead grandfather. You think I’m actually going to hand over a hundred million dollars to a beggar? Get out of my sight before I have you thrown in jail for vagrancy!"
He turned on his heel, motioning frantically to his driver by the curb. "Get the car. Now."
Catherine stepped directly into his path, her face carved out of stone.
"Mr. Hartwell," she said clearly, her voice carrying across the entire park. "Every single move, every word of the wager, and your explicit agreement to the terms were broadcast live on four major streaming channels and recorded by over fifty witnesses. If you walk away from this bet right now, Hartwell Enterprises stock will crash by morning, and I will personally hand the SEC every file on your illegal real-estate shell companies."
Alexander stopped dead in his tracks. He turned around, his eyes wide with absolute terror. "You wouldn't."
"Try me," Catherine said coldly.
May you like
Alexander looked back at Ethan. The boy hadn't stood up. He was carefully, methodically picking up his wooden pieces one by one, placing them back into his father’s cracked leather pouch.
He didn't look angry. He looked profoundly, terribly disappointed.
