“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.
