Chapter 16 - The Lighter's Last SecretRichard slowly set his coffee cup down, the porcelain clicking loudly against the glass table. The friendly uncle persona vanished completely, replaced by the cold, calculating glare of a man who had spent decades orchestrating corporate takeovers and underworld operations.
"You always were the blunt instrument, Marcus," Richard said softly, leaning back in his executive chair. "Ethan was the visionary, but he lacked the stomach for what it takes to keep an empire like Vance Global afloat. We were losing millions to foreign competitors. The deals I made kept five thousand people employed!"
"You ordered the hit on his car," Marcus said, his voice tight with controlled fury. "You tried to murder his pregnant wife."
"I offered Clara two million dollars to disappear quietly with the child!" Richard snapped, his voice losing its composure for a fraction of a second. "She refused! She wanted to bring the evidence to you! Ethan’s death was an unfortunate escalation caused by his own refusal to compromise!"
Marcus reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the silver lighter. He set it upright on the center of the glass table between them.
"You think you’ve won because you have a micro-drive?" Richard sneered, recovering his composure as he reached for his desk phone. "I control the board, Marcus. Half the district attorney's office is on my payroll. By the time you try to present those files in court, the judges will rule them inadmissible, and Clara will be discredited as an unstable former employee."
"I didn't bring the files to court, Richard," Marcus replied, a faint, terrifying smile touching his lips.
He tapped his watch face twice.
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Simultaneously, the large wall monitors in the boardroom flickered to life. Live video feeds showed federal agents from the Department of Justice, accompanied by state troopers, entering the main lobby of Vance Global Holdings on the ground floor, serving emergency arrest warrants across the financial division.
"I broadcast Ethan’s entire drive to the Federal Crime Commission twenty minutes ago," Marcus said quietly. "Your offshore accounts are frozen. Your enforcers are currently being arrested at the northern docks. It's over."
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