BILLIONAIRE MINOR

Chapter 5: Caught in the Crossfire

Jeremy sat on the edge of his couch, the phone pressed tightly against his ear. His apartment was still in a shambles from the burglary, but that hardly impinged on him now. The detective's voice managed to cut through the spiraling nature of his thoughts.

"Are you there, Mr. Lawson?" asked the Detective with unyielding tone.

Jeremy swallowed hard. "Yeah. I'm here. What's this about?

There was a short silence until Carter replied, "We have reason to believe you've been involved in some of the same fraudulent activities as Victor Kane. This is a courtesy call before we escalate matters. We'd prefer you come in voluntarily to answer a few questions."

Jeremy's heart started to beat faster. This wasn't just Victor playing games; this was the law.

"Fraud?" Jeremy asked, shaking. "I've done nothing illegal.

“Then you’ll have no problem coming in,” Carter replied. “Tomorrow, 10 a.m., downtown precinct. Don’t make me come find you.”

The line went dead. Jeremy stared at the phone, his mind racing. How had he gone from fighting to rebuild his life to being under investigation?

---

Jeremy immediately called Maverick, his voice barely steady as he recounted the conversation.

"This is just what Victor wants," Maverick said, cool but grave. "He's planting seeds of doubt, turning the system against you. It's a classic tactic."

"What am I supposed to do?" Jeremy asked, pacing across the room. "If I go to the cops, I risk saying something that can be twisted. If I don't, I look guilty."

Maverick paused before responding. “You need a lawyer. Someone sharp enough to handle this and connected enough to see through Victor’s schemes.”

“I can’t afford a lawyer,” Jeremy muttered, slumping onto the couch.

“You can’t afford not to,” Maverick said firmly. “I’ll make some calls. In the meantime, stick to the truth and stay calm. This isn’t over.”

---

The next morning, Jeremy was seated in a sterile interrogation room across from Detective Carter and another officer. A sharp-eyed woman, who introduced herself as his new lawyer, Elise Brandt, sat beside him.

Carter leaned forward, a file in his hands. "Mr. Lawson, shall we begin with something easy? How long have you known Victor Kane?"

Jeremy kept his expression neutral. "Not long. We crossed paths through trading circles. That's all."

"And yet," Carter said, opening the file, "you have had multiple financial transactions with him, including one involving a company now under investigation for fraud. Care to explain?"

Jeremy looked at Elise, who nodded slightly.

"I didn't know Cobalt Chain was a scam," Jeremy said. "I refused to invest further when I found out. Victor didn't take too well to that."

"And you really expect us to believe he's targeting you because you passed on an investment?" Carter sounded skeptical.

"It's not quite that," Jeremy confessed. "Victor doesn't just destroy your business if you don't listen, he destroys you."

Carter glanced over at his partner and then back to him. "Do you have any proof of these allegations you're making?"

Jeremy fidgeted. "Some. Enough, once, to make him stop.

"Then I suggest you produce it," Carter said, his gaze piercing. "Otherwise, your financial records tell a very different story."

---

When the interrogation finally concluded, Elise pulled Jeremy aside.

"They don't have enough to arrest you yet," she said in a low tone. "But they're fishing. If Victor's behind this, he's feeding them just enough to keep the heat on you. We need to flip the narrative."

"How?" Jeremy asked, exhaustion in his voice.

"By hitting back harder," Elise said. "We take the evidence you have, dig deeper, and expose Victor before he can pin anything else on you."

---

For the next week, Jeremy's life was a whirlwind of preparation and paranoia. Maverick sent encrypted files filled with leads, Elise worked late nights building a defense, and Clara kept a watchful eye on Victor's social movements.

But Victor wasn't staying idle.

In no time, his accounts were flagged for suspicious activity, freezing his remaining funds. His landlord called, claiming his rent payment had bounced. Rumors began circulating in the trading community, painting Jeremy as an untrustworthy scammer.

"It's like he's dismantling my life piece by piece," Jeremy told Clara one night. They were sitting in her small studio apartment, her art supplies scattered around them.

"Then you outsmart him," Clara said, her voice firm. "He's playing dirty because he knows you're a threat. Use that."

Jeremy shook his head. "I'm running out of options, Clara. What if I can't win this?"

Clara placed a reassuring hand on his arm. "You've made it this far, Jeremy. Don't stop fighting now."

The breakthrough came from a completely unexpected direction: one of Maverick's contacts dug up a shell company associated with Victor that funneled millions through sham accounts. The paper trail was damning, and Elise immediately went to work preparing a counteroffensive.

"This is enough to clear not just your name," Elise told Jeremy, "but to bring Victor down once and for all."

Jeremy felt a surge of hope. Finally, the tide was turning.

But just that quick, his relief was shattered.

---

That evening, Jeremy came home to find his apartment door wide open once again. This time, the scene was worse-walls smeared with red paint spelling a single word:

"ENOUGH."

Lying on the floor was a shattered photo frame. Inside was a picture of Jeremy, Clara, and Maverick taken at a recent gathering.

The message was clear. Victor wasn't just targeting Jeremy anymore; he was going after the people he cared about.

Jeremy's phone buzzed with a new message from an unknown number:

"Walk away, or lose everything you love."

Jeremy's fists clenched as he stared at the screen. For the first time, anger burned hotter than fear.

"If Victor wants a war," he muttered, "then he's about to get one.