Chapter 190
As the mastermind behind the scheme, Mara was hit with a sixty-thousand-dollar fine and also sentenced to thirty-seven days behind bars.
Mara didn’t care about the sixty grand, but a month in jail? She would completely lose her mind.
It wasn’t just the thirty-seven days of lost freedom. The rumors would spread like wildfire.
Her reputation was already hanging by a thread. How could she ever show her face in high society again?
Norman immediately pulled the officers aside, trying to negotiate a massive payout to make the charges disappear.
But the police made it very clear: the only way to drop the charges was to secure a formal settlement with the victims. Green Bikes had to agree not to press charges.
Meanwhile, at the Green Bikes headquarters.
Mira was typing away at her computer when the customer service manager hurried into the office.
“CEO, General Manager-someone was intentionally destroying our bikes.
They stockpiled thirty of them p>
“What’s the current situation p>
Mr. Lance asked.
“A civilian reported it first, and our maintenance team arrived right after. They secured the scene, and the police have already taken the suspects into custody.” “Those thugs… they said p>
The manager shot a nervous glance at Mira, clearly hesitating.
“Spit it out. Tell us exactly what they said p>
“They said the person who paid them to destroy the bikes is named Mercer p>
Mara was up to her old tricks again.
If Mira had to guess, this was entirely Mara’s doing. Mr. Porter wouldn’t waste his time on a stunt this incredibly petty.
“Got it. You can head out p>
They would just let the corporate legal team handle it.
“Tell the police to proceed exactly by the book. Let the law handle it p>
Mira honestly couldn’t wrap her head around how someone could be so inherently malicious.
Was Mara really her twin sister?
If she wasn’t, how could they look so strikingly similar? And how could they share the exact same rare blood type?
As for Green Bikes, they weren’t remotely worried about vandalism anymore. In fact, the more bikes that got smashed, the more money they made.
Each bike cost five hundred dollars to manufacture, but the punitive damages for destroying one were a thousand. They literally doubled thei money on the spot.
Even after paying the
two-hundred-dollar reward to a
civilian informant, the company still walked away with a
three-hundred-dollar net profit per bike.
Plus, the damaged bikes were shipped straight back to Mr. Blake’s factory.
If the damage was minor, they swapped out a few cheap parts, and the bike was
back on the streets for a fraction of the cost of building a new one.
Even if a bike was damaged beyond repair, they could melt the steel down and recoup some of the losses.
In a scenario like this-thirty bikes involved—the company would rake in thirty thousand dollars in
compensation pay out
six thousand dollar reward, and pocket a cool twenty-four grand in pure profit.
And since the thugs had only managed to smash ten bikes, the remaining twenty could go right back into circulation.
As for the police fines, that money went straight to the government. That had nothing to do with Green Bikes.
It was a flawless system. Good for the company, good for the city.
And again, with only ten bikes damaged, the rest were completely usable.
The odds of a bike being stolen or destroyed without anyone noticing were basically
zero.
The company already employed a massive fleet of maintenance workers, all highly incentivized with bonuses to hunt down vandals.
On top of that, they had launched a city-wide vigilante program. Anyone could report damage completely anonymously to avoid retaliation.
When it was time to collect the reward, the company simply needed a phone number and a bank account to wire the cash.
Just like the guy who reported Rex’s crew-he didn’t get to ride his bike through the park, but he easily walked away with six thousand dollars.
Just as Mira and the team were packing up for the day, customer service received another call from the precinct.
They didn’t even need to guess what it was about.
Mr. Lance fired back his response without a second of hesitation: “We do not accept
a settlement p>
Mira was zipping up her bag, ready to head home. “Owen, I kind of want to swing by the precinct p>
“To see what p>
Owen asked, tilting his head and giving her a curious side-eye.
“To see the look on Mara’s face p>