Chapter 38
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Malcolm
I sat behind my desk, fingers drumming against the polished mahogany surface, my eyes fixed on the city skyline stretching endlessly beyond the glass walls of my penthouse office.
The view had always been one of my favorite things about this place—New York City at its most ruthless, a constant reminder that power belonged to those willing to take it.
And today, I had every intention of taking everything from Peter Hale and his family.
I reached for my phone, my grip tight, my patience thinner than ever.
If the Hales wanted to play dirty, they had no idea what they were up against. I had spent years building an empire from nothing.
I had clawed my way to the top while men like them sat in their cushy boardrooms, thinking they were untouchable simply because they had inherited their power.
But power could always be shifted—especially when you knew where to apply pressure. And I knew exactly where to start.
I pressed a button on my phone, connecting to my head of security.
“I need every piece of dirt you can find on Peter Hale and his father. Business dealings, offshore accounts, campaign donations, affairs, under-the-table transactions—everything. If there’s a skeleton in their closet, I want it dug up. ”
“Yes, sir,” came the immediate reply, no hesitation, because they all knew by now—when I gave an order, I expected results.
I ended the call and immediately dialed another number, my most trusted private investigator, Raymond Carter. The man had a reputation for being the best, and I had paid him enough over the years to know that when I needed results, he delivered.
“Mr. Sinclair,” Carter answered smoothly. “What can I do for you?”
I leaned back in my chair, fingers tapping against the armrest. “The Hale family. I want every dirty secret they’ve ever tried to bury.”
A low chuckle crackled through the line. “Ah, the Hales. That’s an interesting request.”
“Is it a problem?” I asked coolly, already knowing the answer.
“No problem at all,” Carter said easily. “Just a hell of a challenge. Their family has been playing in the shadows for years, covering their tracks well. But everyone leaves a trail if you know where to look.”
I smirked, knowing he was right. “Good. Because I’m not looking for a minor scandal. I want leverage. I want to make sure when I come for them, they never recover.”
Silence stretched for a moment before Carter spoke again, his voice laced with intrigue. “Consider it done.”
I hung up, feeling the gears shifting into place.
The Hales thought they could manipulate the system, that they could intimidate Summer, take a child who didn’t belong to them, ruin lives without consequence.
But the thing about men like them? They always thought they were the smartest in the room—until they met someone smarter.
My phone buzzed again. I glanced at the screen. Summer.
I answered immediately, my voice dropping into something softer, something only she ever got to hear. “Hey.”
Her voice was rushed, breathless, like she had run to call me. “Malcolm. We have something. Someone sent us a video of the park incident.”
I felt my smirk deepen, my fingers tightening around the phone. “That’s cute. I’ll burn their entire empire down, just in case.”
She sighed. “Malcolm…”
I could hear the hesitation in her voice, the unspoken concern. She didn’t want this to get messy—but it was already messy. This wasn’t about playing fair. This was about making sure men like Peter Hale never had the power to hurt someone again. And that? That required ruining them completely.
“Trust me, Summer,” I said, my voice smooth but unshakable. “This is what I do.”
There was silence on her end, but she didn’t argue. She knew me well enough to know I wouldn’t stop until this was handled.
I ended the call and turned my attention back to the work at hand. If Peter’s family had even a speck of corruption, I was going to find it. It wasn’t just about revenge—it was about ensuring they had nothing left when I was done with them.
Within the next few hours, the information started pouring in.
I scrolled through confidential reports, bank transactions that led to offshore accounts, suspicious donations that had been buried under layers of false corporations.
Bribery, fraud, tax evasion. The deeper I dug, the uglier it got.
Peter Hale’s father had more skeletons in his closet than a goddamn graveyard.
Illegal business dealings. Multiple lawsuits that had been settled quietly.
Connections to high-profile criminals that had been erased from public record—but not from my reach.
Then there was Peter himself. The man was even filthier than his father. Drugs, violence, hush money payments, women he had hurt but had paid to keep silent. He had been protected his entire life, his crimes covered up by the same system he manipulated.
But that protection? It was gone now.
By the time the sun set, I had everything I needed to destroy them permanently.
I leaned back in my chair, my fingers wrapping around the glass of whiskey I had poured an hour ago but hadn’t touched. The city lights gleamed outside my window, the world carrying on, completely unaware that in this very moment, the Hale family’s empire was crumbling.
My phone buzzed again. Another update. Another piece of damning evidence.
I smirked, lifting the glass to my lips.
“Checkmate.”