Chapter 30: Meaningless Threats
The door opened with a soft click.
Lance Ryder immediately sat up on the sofa and rubbed his eyes. Through the light in the hallway, he saw who had entered and asked in surprise:
"You turned on the lights, Betty? Why are you back so late? It'll be dawn soon!"
Betty Ross switched on a softer lamp and let out a tired sigh.
"What choice did I have?" she said. "You have no idea what Justina is dealing with right now. The FBI is investigating not just the company but her entire family. She's also buried in legal issues with a mountain of lawyers."
"She's just a young girl who doesn't understand any of this. If I hadn't stayed there to watch things carefully, those people would have eaten her alive."
"Won't this cause trouble for you and your father?" Lance asked, a hint of concern appearing on his face.
"It's fine," Betty replied as she set down her bag and went to the kitchen for a glass of water. "I'm just observing and helping her contact lawyers. The lawyers will handle everything else."
"If I hadn't been there, Justina would have panicked completely."
Lance had already spoken with Betty on the phone earlier.
When he returned to the villa and found she wasn't home, he had been genuinely worried.
If anything had happened to Betty Ross, he wouldn't know how to explain it to General Ross.
Fortunately, after calling her, he learned that she was still at Hammer Industries' headquarters.
Just like Tony Stark lived in the top floors of Stark Tower, Justin Hammer's residence was also located inside the Hammer Industries building.
Of course, wealthy people like them owned multiple properties across Long Island and other areas.
Although Betty made it sound simple, the situation there was far from easy.
She had said that lawyers would handle most of the issues, but deciding which lawyer could actually be trusted was the real problem.
Lawyers were bound by professional ethics, but those rules were filled with gray areas.
And those gray areas could bring lawyers enormous profits.
Under the current circumstances, Hammer Industries was facing disaster.
Almost every branch of the company had already been seized by the FBI.
Even S.H.I.E.L.D. had stepped in.
And that was only the beginning.
Once the stock market opened tomorrow morning, Hammer Industries' stock would almost certainly collapse.
Then there were the bank loans.
Because the company had recently expanded its production lines to fulfill military contracts, it had borrowed huge sums from banks.
Those military orders would now be canceled.
By tomorrow morning, the banks would be demanding repayment.
There were also payments owed to suppliers.
With the company's funds frozen, many of those debts might never be paid.
Anyone could see the outcome clearly.
Hammer Industries was heading straight toward bankruptcy.
Under those circumstances, smart lawyers understood one thing.
Helping Hammer Industries would not bring them any real payment.
The more practical approach was to persuade Justina to cooperate fully with the government investigation.
Some lawyers were even more aggressive.
They had already begun targeting the company's remaining assets.
Even if Hammer Industries collapsed completely, lawyers could still extract huge sums through legal fees and settlements.
Because of that, choosing the right lawyer had become extremely difficult.
That was why Betty had returned so late.
"Justin Hammer will probably face at least thirty years in prison," Lance said, shaking his head.
"Hammer Industries is finished."
"You should persuade Justina to let go of it sooner rather than later."
"There's no point fighting this."
Privately, Lance had already begun acting.
During the day, Hammer Industries stock had started collapsing, and he had been shorting it aggressively.
Once the stock price dropped to rock bottom, he planned to buy up massive amounts of the company's bonds.
At that point, he would become one of the largest creditors.
And creditors were the first to be repaid when a company went bankrupt.
From there, he could strip away the company's remaining valuable assets.
Of course, Lance only handled the overall strategy.
The actual financial operations were managed by Sunil Bakshi and his professional team.
"I'll see what happens," Betty sighed.
"Poor Justina. Yesterday she was the daughter of a billionaire."
"And overnight she's almost penniless."
"That kind of change could destroy anyone."
"That's why I want to help her."
"You're worrying too much," Lance replied calmly.
"Justin Hammer probably set up a trust fund for her a long time ago."
"She'll never starve."
"As long as she doesn't try to take responsibility for her father's debts, she'll live comfortably for the rest of her life."
If Betty hadn't stayed with her last night, Justina might already have been tricked into signing countless legal agreements.
At that point, escaping the situation would have been impossible.
And Lance didn't believe Justin Hammer had been careless.
Even if Hammer Industries collapsed, Justin Hammer himself likely still had hidden assets overseas.
Those funds would be more than enough to support his daughter.
Betty began removing her earrings.
Seeing that she was exhausted, Lance stood up and stretched.
"Now that you're back, you should get some rest," he said.
"I'll come see you tomorrow."
"You… you're leaving?" Betty asked subconsciously.
Lance had already reached the door.
He stopped and turned around.
A playful smile appeared on his face.
"I'd love to stay," he said.
"But you're already exhausted tonight."
"If I stayed…"
"You probably wouldn't even get out of bed tomorrow."
"Get out!" Betty shouted, her face turning red as she threw the glass in her hand at him.
The glass hit the door just as Lance stepped outside.
The moment he left the house, Lance's expression became calm again.
His relationship with Betty Ross had reached a strange balance.
They were still close.
But both of them knew that things could never return to what they once were.
By the time Lance returned home, the sky was still dark.
As he parked his car, he noticed a thin figure standing outside his door.
"Why are you here?" he asked, frowning.
"And where are your bodyguards?"
The person waiting outside was Justina Hammer.
"Most of them already submitted resignation letters," she replied tiredly.
"I told the rest to stay and watch the company."
"So I came here alone."
Her eyes were filled with exhaustion.
She looked as if she could barely keep them open.
"When did you arrive?" Lance asked.
After thinking for a moment, he unlocked the door and let her inside.
"After Professor Betty came home," Justina said quietly.
She deliberately called Betty "Professor" this time.
Her eyes lingered on Lance with a strange expression.
But Lance pretended not to notice.
He walked into the kitchen, heated a pot of water, and quickly brewed a cup of coffee.
Then he placed it in front of her.
Sitting across from her, he spoke bluntly.
"You shouldn't have come to me."
"You should be trying to see your father through a lawyer."
"He's the one who knows how to handle this situation."
"The lawyer already went," Justina said bitterly.
"But the police won't let me see him."
"The lawyer can't do anything."
Normally, once a lawyer arrived at a police station, the police couldn't refuse access to the client.
If they did—
It meant they already had solid evidence.
Possibly even enough to charge him with terrorism.
Which would make the situation far worse.
Lance looked at Justina carefully.
Even though she looked fragile, her eyes remained determined.
"I've heard about your situation," he said calmly.
"But you shouldn't be here."
"I can't help with your family's problems."
Justina's purpose was obvious.
She had come to ask for help.
But why should Lance help her?
Even if she offered herself in exchange, Hammer Industries wasn't worth it.
"I know," Justina said quietly.
"I've already spoken with a lawyer."
"The best legal solution right now is to declare bankruptcy immediately."
"That way I won't be dragged down with the company."
"But that only solves the legal problems."
"There are still people… outside the law."
She didn't say who she meant.
But Lance understood.
She was talking about the shadow world.
People who didn't operate in public.
Dangerous people.
Still—
That had nothing to do with him.
No matter how pitiful Justina sounded, Lance remained unmoved.
Seeing his expression, disappointment flashed in Justina's eyes.
She had believed Lance might be like those so-called superheroes.
She thought that if she showed weakness, he would sympathize with her.
Now she realized—
He was completely cold.
But thinking about it carefully, maybe that was normal.
Most soldiers were trained to suppress emotion.
Why would someone like him get involved so easily?
Suddenly, Justina slammed her hand onto the table.
"I just can't accept it!" she shouted angrily.
"Why are they allowed to seize everything?"
"Hammer Industries pays billions in taxes every year!"
"We employ tens of thousands of workers!"
"There are countless smaller companies connected to us!"
"If Hammer Industries collapses, how many families will lose everything?"
"How many people will end up committing suicide?"
"Someone has to do something!"
Lance watched her silently.
Despite her emotional outburst, he could see that Justina wasn't as simple as she appeared.
Justin Hammer might not have spent much time with his daughter.
But he had clearly invested heavily in her education.
The fact that she could still stand up and fight in this situation proved that.
Then Justina looked directly at him.
She slowly took out her phone and placed it on the table.
"Mr. Ryder," she said quietly.
"Take a look at this."
Lance raised an eyebrow and opened the video.
It was a shaky recording.
The image quality was poor.
The footage showed Lance himself inside the Stark Expo grounds.
In the video, he grabbed a steel soldier by the chest—
Pulled out the Arc Reactor—
And then threw the machine away before it exploded in midair.
Because of the darkness and the poor camera resolution, the details were blurry.
But his identity was unmistakable.
If someone with advanced technology analyzed the footage—
Especially someone like JARVIS—
They might uncover exactly what Lance had been doing.
Lance returned the phone calmly.
Then he smiled faintly.
"You're a clever girl," he said.
"I don't know where you got this video."
"But even if you release it publicly…"
"It will disappear very quickly."
"Believe it or not, I could call the White House or the Department of Defense right now and have them handle it."
"If that happens…"
"You might end up sharing a prison cell with your father."
A completely meaningless threat.
Or at least—
That was what Justina had hoped it would be.
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