Chapter 12: An Unwelcome Shadow
Even with the highest security, the corporate world had lingering grudges. Julian Thorne, a long-time rival real estate developer whose firm had been crushed by Vance Holdings in a recent acquisition, saw the news of Mateo’s newfound daughter as an opportunity for leverage.
Thorne hired a disreputable tabloid journalist to dig into Elena’s past, attempting to fabricate a sensational story claiming that Elena was a con artist who had hidden the child for years to extort hundreds of millions from the Vance estate.
On Wednesday morning, Mateo’s PR director alerted him to an impending article set to be published on a prominent gossip blog.
"They have unauthorized photos of Elena entering the clinic three weeks ago," the director warned. "They’re running a smear campaign, claiming she used Emma as a bargaining chip."
Mateo didn't flinch. His expression remained cold and calculated. "Get our legal counsel to file an emergency cease-and-desist with defamation injunctions. Then call Thorne’s primary creditor, Manhattan Global Bank."
"What are you planning, sir?"
"Thorne has a ninety-million-dollar commercial loan due for refinancing this Friday," Mateo said, tapping a finger on his desk. "Buy the debt out from Manhattan Global by noon today. If Thorne publishes one defamatory word about Elena or my children, foreclose on his entire portfolio by 5:00 PM."
By 2:00 PM, Thorne personally called Mateo’s private line, profusely apologizing and confirming that the article had been permanently spiked, with all photographic evidence destroyed. Mateo hung up without uttering a single word.
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He had made his message loud and clear: anyone who dared threaten his family would be utterly destroyed.
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