Against Cruelty, She Grew Strong (by Anastasia Glover) novel Chapter 694

Even in Darkness, She Chose to Rise

Chapter 694 Norman Annihilates Lund’s Empire

What did this guy just say?

The Queen Group was finished?

John looked like he’d been hit by a freight train. All the color drained from his face.

“No… that can’t be right!”

Norman didn’t answer. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a tablet.

He turned it on, swiped a few times, and held it up for John to see.

On the screen was the Queen Group’s live stock chart. A steep, almost vertical downward green line was brutal to look at. The stock had already lost half its value.

“Take a look at this too.”

Norman switched screens. Now it was the top headlines from major financial outlets–Queen Group’s Core Technology Leaked, Suspected Internal Sabotage,Multiple Agencies Downgrade Queen Group, Urge Investors to Sell Immediately.

Norman watched John’s face go white and continued in a calm voice.

“Oh, and there’s something else–about you.”

“These are copies of anonymous reports sent to the Lund Group’s main creditor banks over the last four hours.”

He opened one at random, “All about how you inflated profits by over two billion through related–party deals and used duplicate mortgage schemes to get loans. Very thorough. The banks‘ risk departments have already activated emergency protocols.”

Right on cue, John’s phone started buzzing wildly. The names flashing on the screen were the Lund Group’s CFO and the head of their largest creditor bank–also John’s partners in crime.

Norman signaled his men to hold the phone to John’s ear and put it on speaker.

The CFO’s desperate, tearful voice came through, “Mr. Lund! It’s over! Completely over! The banks are demanding immediate repayment of all loans–or they’ll freeze and auction off all our assets! Our cash flow just dried up. Suppliers have heard the news too and are demanding payment. The company… the company is being gutted as we speak!”

The last bit of color left John’s face. His whole body started shaking uncontrollably.

Norman walked over and tapped John’s cheek with the flat side of the knife–slow, deliberate, insulting.

“You thought she’d only hit you but never kill you, so you kept pushing her, didn’t you?”

“I gave you a chance. If you hadn’t shown up today, if you hadn’t touched Tammy, you might have had a few more days to breathe. But you just had to go looking for death.”

The cold blade caught the light of Norman’s murderous eyes.

John finally understood who he’d crossed–someone who could take down the Queen Group!

He straightened up and waved to his men in the shadows.

“Clean this up. No loose ends. And before he goes to prison, make sure he gets ‘properly entertained.‘ Just keep him breathing.”

Norman didn’t look back at the pathetic wreck that was John, or the pitiful screams still echoing behind him. He pocketed the knife, turned, and walked out of the warehouse, melting into the night.

But his back carried a hint of loneliness.

The day of the funeral arrived. The weather was cruelly beautiful.

Sunlight streamed through the leaves, dappling the stone path of the cemetery.

Tammy wore a simple white dress that fell just above her knees. The hem swayed gently with every step.

The dress was plain–no lace, no sparkle–but under the bright sun, it seemed to glow, like she was wrapped in a soft halo.

Norman stood at a distance, watching her. His heart felt like it was being crushed by an invisible fist.

That white dress, in his eyes, was as blinding as a wedding gown.

Tammy walked slowly to the headstone. Lucas’s photo smiled gently back at her.

She didn’t speak. She just stood still for a moment. Then she began to hum a wordless tune- ethereal and faraway, like a forgotten prayer from another time.