Chapter 5 - The Corporate PredatorThree days later.
The funeral for David Vance was a quiet, somber affair held beneath a slate-gray Minnesota sky. Only a small handful of people stood by the graveside: Monica, little Nina—her arm in a pink sling, leaning heavily on her mother—and Douglas, standing a respectful distance away in a sharp black overcoat, holding an umbrella over them.
When the service concluded, Douglas walked Monica and Nina back to the waiting black sedan.
“You’re not staying in that damp apartment anymore,” Douglas said firmly as he opened the car door for them. “I’ve arranged for a private recovery suite at my estate. You’ll have round-the-clock nursing care for Nina, and absolute security.”
Monica looked exhausted, dark rings under her eyes, but her jaw set with that same stubborn pride. “Douglas, I can’t live in your mansion. I have my bookstore, my life—”
“Your life just changed forever, Mon,” Douglas interrupted gently, yet with absolute authority. “Let me take care of you. Just for a little while.”
Before Monica could reply, a sleek silver Mercedes pulled up behind the sedan.
From the car stepped Victor Sterling—senior managing partner of Sterling Capital, and one of Douglas’s most ruthless corporate rivals.
Victor adjusted his silk tie, flashing a cold, predatory smile as he walked over.
“Well, well, well,” Victor sneered, looking at Douglas with malicious amusement. “The great Douglas Reed, missing a multi-million-dollar board meeting and a major European acquisition, all to play family nursemaid in a rainy graveyard.”
Douglas turned slowly, his eyes locking onto Victor with a chilling, dead-eyed glare. “What do you want, Victor?”
“I just wanted to offer my condolences,” Victor smiled thinly, leaning in closer. “Though it’s a shame about your brother-in-law’s debts. Word on the street is that David Vance’s failing logistics firm owed over two million dollars to high-interest private lenders. Guess who holds those debt notes now?”
May you like
Douglas’s blood ran cold. “You.”
“Me,” Victor confirmed with a grin. “Which means, by default, those debts now attach to David’s immediate estate—which includes your grieving sister right here. If she can’t pay the two million by Friday, my firm forecloses on everything she owns.”
