“Daniel, don’t beg her,” Vivian snapped, though her own voice lacked its usual bite. “She is doing this out of spite. She wants to see us crawl.”

“Shut up, Mother!” Daniel yelled, turning on her with a sudden fierceness that shocked both Vivian and Claire.

The nearby guests turned their heads at the outburst.

Daniel turned back to me, his face pale and sweating under the ballroom lights.

“Maya, please,” he whispered, his hands trembling. “Just five minutes. Just let me talk to you in the office. For the sake of everything we’ve been through.”

I looked at Mr. Han, who gave me a subtle, questioning look.

My phone buzzed in my hand again.

I glanced down at the screen.

It was an alert from the resort’s main gate security.

A black town car had just entered the property, carrying the chief auditor from the federal banking commission.

They were here to execute the asset seizure warrants on the Mercer Group’s local holdings.

I looked up from the screen, staring directly into Daniel’s desperate, pleading eyes.