Chapter 5 - The Counter-AttackThe honeymoon phase of their business alliance lasted precisely forty-eight hours before the retaliation began.
Harper was working late in her office, reviewing the preliminary acquisition contracts for Falco Holdings, when her phone buzzed with an urgent alert from her private banking app.
Alert: Unauthorized login attempt detected on your personal mortgage account.
She frowned, tapping the screen. Moments later, a second alert popped up: Legal notice filed against Bennett Properties LLC.
Before she could process the notification, her office door burst open. Sarah Whitman stood there, breathless and wide-eyed, holding her tablet like a shield.
“Harper! You need to see this right now. Your name is all over the legal blogs.”
Harper stood up, her heart skipping a beat. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s Connor,” Sarah gasped, marching over to the desk and spinning the tablet around. “Or rather, Connor’s uncle—Judge Harrison Hayes.”
Harper’s blood ran cold.
Judge Harrison Hayes was one of the most powerful, corrupt appellate judges in Cook County. For decades, the Hayes family had used their judicial connections to crush rivals, bury lawsuits, and protect their financial empire.
According to the legal filing flashing on Sarah’s screen, an emergency injunction had just been slapped on Harper’s residential property and her personal investment accounts, alleging “fraudulent asset concealment and insider trading” tied to her corporate litigation files. It was a complete fabrication—a retaliatory hit job designed to freeze her assets, trigger a compliance investigation by the state bar, and humiliate her professionally.
“He’s using his uncle’s bench to destroy me,” Harper whispered, her hands gripping the edge of her desk as fury ignited deep in her chest. “He’s trying to disbar me before the week is out.”
“What are we going to do?” Sarah asked, panic ringing in her voice. “If the state bar freezes your license, your career is over. You won't even be able to represent Falco.”
Harper stared at the screen, her mind calculating the variables with cold, lethal precision. Judge Hayes thought he could use his judicial gavel to crush a senior litigator. He thought she was alone.
She picked up her phone, bypassed her corporate directory, and dialed a private number she had memorized the day before.
It rang once.
“I’m listening,” Roman’s deep, steady voice answered immediately.
“Judge Harrison Hayes just slapped a fraudulent asset freeze on my accounts through a midnight appellate injunction,” Harper said, her voice shaking with restrained fury. “He’s trying to take my license.”
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There was a brief pause on the other end of the line. When Roman spoke again, his voice had dropped into a terrifying, glacial calm.
“Pack a bag, Harper,” Roman ordered quietly. “I’m sending a car. We’re going to pay a little visit to the good judge.”
