Chapter 7 - The Chairman’s Gambit
Reed smiled thin, humorless smile, gesturing for the two armed guards to secure the hallway outside. "A regrettable precaution. When Sofia’s phone went dead, we suspected Christopher’s maid had finally crawled out of whatever gutter she was hiding in. Where is she, Julian? And more importantly, where is the boy?"
"The boy is gone," Julian replied evenly. "Along with the digital ledger Christopher compiled before you staged his coronary."
Reed’s eyes hardened, the pleasant veneer vanishing like smoke. "Christopher was romantic, Julian. That was his fatal flaw. He believed that building an empire meant nothing if you couldn't keep your hands clean. He didn't understand that clean hands don't build multinational conglomerates. They just sign bankruptcy petitions."
"So you killed him."
"He was going to surrender three billion dollars in energy patents to the public domain because of an ideological crisis," Reed said coldly. "We couldn't allow that. And we cannot allow an illegitimate infant and a grieving, righteous younger brother to derail the foreign acquisition tomorrow."
Reed stepped forward, leaning lightly against the vanity table where Sofia’s pearls still lay discarded. "Here is your reality, Julian. You sign the power of attorney paperwork right now. You marry Sofia by special proxy next week, and you step down as CEO with a twenty-million-dollar severance. Or we find that child, we bury him beside Christopher, and you become a tragic casualty of a home invasion."
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Julian stood perfectly still. His hands were clasped behind his back. "You really believe money buys total silence, don't you Marcus?"
"It has for fifty years," Reed replied. "Sign the document."
