Chapter 5 - THE FIRST DEFECTIONThe heavy leather-bound portfolio lay on the glass table like a guillotine blade suspended by a single thread. The red laser dots from the ceiling turrets danced restlessly across the tailored suits of the terrified billionaires, serving as a silent, unyielding reminder of the stakes.
For a long, agonizing minute, no one moved. The elite of the city stared at the contract as if it were a venomous snake. To sign it meant financial suicide, complete surrender of their empires, and public disgrace. To not sign it meant staying trapped in an airtight fortress with a vengeful heiress and an automated security grid programmed to terminate any resistance.
Then, a frail, trembling hand broke the silence.
The city's oldest shipping tycoon, an 80-year-old billionaire whose hands shook violently, stepped forward out of the crowd. His eyes were wide with terror as he looked at Valeria.
"If... if I sign over my shares," the old man wheezed, his voice cracking, "do you guarantee my family's safety? Do you guarantee my grandchildren won't be touched?"
Valeria looked at him with a gaze of unreadable stone. "Your shipping empire was built on the blood of my father’s crew, old man. You smuggled contraband that ultimately led to the sinking of the Vance Voyager."
The old man dropped to his knees, tears streaming down his wrinkled cheeks. "I was forced! Nicolás’s grandfather threatened to kill my entire family if I didn’t comply! Please... I have nothing left to lose!"
Valeria stared down at him for a long, heavy moment before sliding a gold-plated fountain pen across the marble floor.
"Sign page forty-two," Valeria said coldly. "Transfer ninety percent of your logistics empire to the Vance Trust. You keep your life, and your grandchildren keep their college funds. But your name will be the first one listed on the public indictment tomorrow morning."
The old man didn’t hesitate. He snatched the pen from the floor, his hand shaking uncontrollably as he scrawled his signature across the dotted line. The moment the ink hit the paper, a soft green chime rang out from the podium, indicating the transfer had been verified and executed by the automated network.
Nicolás’s eyes bulged out of his head. "Uncle Thomas! Have you lost your mind?! You're handing our entire trade route over to a dead family!"
"Shut up, you arrogant little monster!" Thomas roared, turning back with sudden, venomous fury. "Your family destroyed generations of honest people! I hope she burns you down to the ashes!"
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Valeria retrieved the signed document, her eyes gleaming with cold triumph. She looked up at the remaining billionaires, whose walls of solidarity were crumbling faster than sand castles in a hurricane.
"Who's next?" Valeria asked softly.
