Chapter 4 - The Midnight ConfrontationRobert slowly closed the folder and rested his hands flat on his desk. “You killed him, Victor. You covered up a structural failure that crushed Gabriel Martinez, and then you used company funds to buy the land so you could bury the evidence.”
Victor shrugged, pulling a silver cigar case from his pocket. He didn't light up, just turned the metal box over in his hands. “Business requires pragmatism, brother-in-law. Gabriel Martinez was a nobody. If we had admitted fault, the OSHA fines, the lawsuits, and the scandal would have killed the company’s IPO three years ago. I saved Harrison Industries.”
“By starving a widow and her child?” Robert shouted, his voice echoing in the vast, empty room. “She gave me five dollars today, Victor! Her daughter gave me her last five dollars because she thought I was starving! And you’re sitting here planning to tear down her home!”
Victor’s face hardened. The polite facade slipped away completely, revealing a cold, merciless ambition.
“You’ve lost your mind, Robert,” Victor sneered. “Sarah’s death broke you. Look at you—obsessing over a waitress and her poor child while millions of dollars hang in the balance. You are unstable. Unfit to lead.”
“Get out of my office,” Robert said, reaching for the desk telephone.
Before his fingers touched the receiver, one of the security guards stepped forward and slammed a heavy hand down on the phone, breaking the plastic housing.
“You don't understand the situation, Robert,” Victor said calmly. “The board meets at 9:00 AM tomorrow. I have already drafted an emergency motion to remove you as CEO due to emotional incapacity. The directors will sign it. You will be given a generous severance, a quiet retirement, and plenty of time to grieve your daughter.”
“And what about Grace and Emma?” Robert demanded.
“The bulldozers move in tomorrow at noon,” Victor replied smoothly. “Sunset Trailer Park will be flattened by nightfall. The past will be erased. And if you try to stop it... well, tragic accidents run in families, don't they?”
Victor gestured to the guards. “Escort Mr. Harrison to his car. Ensure he makes it home safely... and stays there until the board meeting.”
Robert knew he couldn't fight two heavy security guards physically. He allowed them to lead him out of the building. But as he stepped into the elevator, his hand slipped into his coat pocket.
May you like
His fingers wrapped around the silver quarter Emma had given him.
They think I have nothing left to lose, Robert thought, his jaw setting into a hard line. They don't realize that a man with nothing to lose is the most dangerous enemy in the world.
