Chapter 4 - The Intruder in the BoardroomThe man who stepped into the room was tall, impeccably dressed in a tailored Tom Ford suit, with hair silvering at the temples and a predatory smirk playing across his lips.
"Well, well, well," Richard Sterling drawled, clapping his hands softly together. "The great Julian Mercer, playing happy families at eight in the morning. And here I thought you were busy tanking my stock options."
Julian stood up so fast his chair screeched against the parquet floor. "Sterling. How did you find this location?"
"Please, Julian. Do you really think private dining rooms at the Mandarin are off-limits to the board of directors?" Richard’s eyes flicked over to Isabel, lingering appraisingly on her tense posture, before settling on the little boy coloring quietly in the corner. "And who is this? A new protégé? Or did the ruthless billionaire finally develop a soft spot for charity cases?"
Mateo looked up at the strange man, shrinking back slightly into his chair.
Isabel stood up immediately, stepping protectively in front of her son. "Who is this, Julian?"
"Nobody," Julian said, his voice dropping into a lethal register. He rounded the table, stepping directly between Richard Sterling and Isabel. "Get out, Richard. Before I have security throw you out the freight elevator."
Richard chuckled, unfazed by the thinly veiled threat. "Oh, I'm leaving, Julian. But before I go, let me give you a piece of friendly advice. The board holds an emergency vote at noon today regarding the Singapore expansion project. If you're distracted by domestic squabbles—or chasing ghosts from your past—you might find yourself voted out of your own CEO chair by lunchtime."
Richard shot a predatory wink at Isabel. "Pleasure meeting you, my dear. Be careful which monsters you invite into your bed."
With a sharp turn, Richard walked out, slamming the heavy doors behind him.
The room fell into a dead silence. Julian stood frozen, his mind racing. The Singapore expansion was his life's work. If Richard and the dissenting board members staged a coup while he was caught up in a custody war with Isabel, everything he had built could vanish in a single afternoon.
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Isabel looked at him, her expression hardening. "Go. Your empire is calling, Julian. That’s what you chose six years ago, and that’s what’s waiting for you now."
Julian looked from Isabel to his son, and then back to the door. For the first time in his life, the empire didn't feel like a victory. It felt like a trap.
