Chapter 2
I told Arthur that a former college classmate of mine, Victoria, needed to sell five commercial lots in that target zone immediately for $500,000 cash.
“In a month, they’ll be worth at least two million,” I assured him. “But I can’t have my name on the deed. My firm is doing an internal audit before the announcement. The property has to be strictly in your name.”
I could hear his breathing change over the line. Arthur wasn’t an investor—he was a mid-level manager at a logistics firm. But he suffered from the most dangerous affliction a man in debt could have: he genuinely believed he was one lucky break away from becoming a millionaire.
Within hours, he drove out to inspect the land.
Victoria had prepared everything. The lots were real, the deeds were clean, and she was the legal owner. The only lie was the golden future Arthur imagined for them. She even arranged for a local shopkeeper to casually mention rumors of foreign buyers scouting the area.
May you like
That was all Arthur needed to hear.
That same afternoon, Arthur met with Victoria. He handed over the $250,000 he had stolen by leveraging my father’s life savings to secure two of the lots, and signed an agreement putting down a deposit to hold the other three. He had five days to pay the remaining $250,000 balance.
