Chapter 4 - The Legal Betrayal
Julian froze mid-motion, his hand hovering over the silver flash drive plugged into the glowing terminal. He slowly turned around, adjusting his wire-rimmed glasses with a calm, unbothered composure that sent a chill down Diego’s spine. There was no panic in Julian’s eyes—only a cold, calculating professional detachment.
"Good evening, Diego," Julian said smoothly, leaning back against the edge of the console. "I see you finally found the little girl. Impressive. I always knew you had a soft spot for lost causes, but bringing her into the line of fire? That was remarkably careless."
Diego closed the distance between them in three long strides, grabbing Julian by the lapels of his designer gray suit and slamming him against the metal server rack.
"Cut the corporate talk, Julian," Diego hissed, his knuckles whitening. "What does Elena have to do with this? Why are you wiping the archives?"
Julian didn't flinch. He simply looked down at Diego’s grip with mild amusement, raising his hands in a placating gesture.
"I'm not wiping the archives for Elena, Diego. I’m wiping them for us—or rather, for the board of directors who are about to vote you out of your own company by morning," Julian replied, his voice dripping with condescension.
Diego stared at him, the gears in his mind turning as the horrifying puzzle pieces fell into place. "The board... You’ve been working with Elena to orchestrate a hostile takeover."
"It’s not a hostile takeover if it’s entirely legal," Julian corrected, gently brushing Diego’s hands away and straightening his jacket. "You built this empire on the premise of absolute family legacy. But what happens when the market discovers that your legitimate heir—the little girl hiding out in the hallway—was smuggled back into the country using corporate funds embezzled from the Sterling Foundation?"
Diego’s breath caught in his throat. He remembered the gold button, the locket, the mysterious courier. It had all been staged. A meticulously constructed trap designed to make him appear financially corrupt and emotionally unstable, forcing him to forfeit his voting shares to protect the child.
"Where is Elena?" Diego demanded, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.
"She’s already on her private jet headed for Zurich," Julian smiled thinly. "And by the time the markets open tomorrow, your accounts will be frozen, your assets seized, and your daughter will be classified as a ward of the state under the guardianship of the Sterling Foundation board."
Before Diego could react, the heavy archive doors slammed shut behind them with a resounding click. The pneumatic locks engaged automatically, sealing them inside the concrete vault.
"Marcus!" Diego yelled, pounding his fist against the reinforced steel.
May you like
There was no answer from the other side—only the muffled sound of a heavy body hitting the concrete floor.
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