2026-01-11 06:57:22Dave took two beers out of the fridge and his hands were shaking a little. He opened the caps and foams spurted out. "Man, you better start talking. Last night you had been delivering pizzas like a maid. Today you are driving a three million dollar car?
Robert received the beer, and unscrewed what was left of the cap. “Do you recall those oil fields that I invested five years ago? The ones everyone laughed at?"
“The ones that had you kicked out of your family? Yeah, I remember. You lost everything." Dave was seated opposite him on an incompatible chair.
"They're producing now. Big time. Barrels a million a day. I have more value than I can afford in practice three lives. More than I had ever dreamed of money.”
Dave gave a whistle, a long drawn-out whistle. "Holy shit. So you're actually rich? Like, really, truly rich?"
"Beyond rich. Today, I have become the president of Zenco enterprise. Went out and signed the papers this morning.”
Dave choked on his beer. Coughed. Sputtered. Beer dribbled down his chin. "Zenco? Your family's company? The one that disowned you and kicked you out?”
"Yep. Money was required to clean up the mess of Carlton. My dear cousin seemingly lost money in company funds on cryptocurrency. Gambled away all his stuff in some foolish electronic lottery game.”
“And they made their crawling back to you.” Dave shook his head in disbelief. “That is some bad karma. Beautiful karma."
"I gave it to them. I, in turn, receive my job back. Full control. No board interference. They can't touch my decisions." Said Robert
Dave bent forward, his knees on his elbows. "What about Roxanne? Does she know about all this?"
Robert's jaw tightened. His hold on the bottle of beer tightened. "She called me today. Wants to talk. Says she made a mistake."
"You still love her, don't you?" Dave asked quietly.
Robert gazed at his beer bottle. The mark was flaking along the edges. Dripping dripped down the glass. "Doesn't matter. She kicked me out. Believed Maxime over me. And vile to me five years may her mother slay.”
"But you still love her." Dave was insistent and did not relent.
Robert took a long drink. The beer was cold and bitter. "Love's not enough. Not anymore. Five years I served her. Five years I took her abuse. Her mother's abuse. I prepared, washed, delivered pizzas, I was dressed like a maid. And for what?"
"For this. For your comeback. For your revenge." Dave indicated all around.
"No. This happened despite them. Not because of them. They didn't help me. They tried to break me."
They drank in silence. The apartment was silent with the exception of the wall clock ticking and the traffic sound.
Dave finally spoke. "So what's your plan? Make them all regret it? Burn them all down?"
Robert smiled, though it did not get to his eyes. I began with an interview of Loretta tomorrow morning.
"Loretta? The model from last night? The person who embarrassed you in front of all the people?” said Dave with a surprised look.
"She has an interview at Zenco. In the case with the position of brand ambassador. I'm conducting it personally. Can't wait to see her face." Robert replied with a faint smile
Dave burst out into laughter and slammed his knee. “Oh man, she must be dying inwardly just now. Absolutely dying."
"She will be. I rescheduled her interview to 8 AM. Saying to her that if one minute late it's off indefinitely.”
"Brutal." Dave shook his head with a continued smile. "What about Maxime? You going after him too? That smug bastard?"
"Already did. Called Leonardo Vegas. He is withdrawing his invitation and outing Maxime as a fake. Everyone will be aware that he is a liar by the next day.”
Dave lifted his brew, where foam slopped over the edge. "To revenge. Sweet, beautiful revenge."
Robert shook bottles with him. Glass struck glass with a stinging sound. "To justice. Long overdue justice."
They drank deep. The beer was good, though not expensive. Familiar. Real.
The phone buzzed in the pocket of Robert. He pulled it out. A text from Roxanne.
"I called Blue Razor. Leonardo attested that it was you. Robert, I'm so sorry. Home, come home, we should talk decently. I mean it this time. I really do."
Robert turned the screen to David, and presented the message.
"You going?" Dave asked, reading it twice.
Robert begins typing slowly with words being very careful. "I'll come tomorrow. After my morning meeting."
He sent it. The message indicated as sent instantly.
Dave rose and walked around the small apartment. “Robert, will you mind answering me? Something serious?"
"Shoot." Replied Robert
"What do you really want? Like, deep down. What's the endgame here? Where does this all end?"
Robert thought about it. What did he want? Revenge? Respect? Love? All of it?
"I want them to see me." Finally Robert said, in a subdued voice. "Really see me. Not as a servant. Not as a failure. Not as a joke. As Robert Jackson. As a man."
"They'll see you." At this point Dave paused in his pacing. "Everyone will see you now. The whole world will see you."
Robert's phone buzzed again. Uncle Phillip this time.
"The office is ready. Signing all the paperwork with a notarized signature. Welcome back, Mr. President. The Jackson family is united again.”
Robert smiled. The next day, he would go into Zenco as the boss. He would have the interview with Loretta. Make her squirm. Get her to plead about the job that she believed was hers.
Then he'd visit Roxanne. What she said about herself. Hear her apology. Decide if it was enough. Determine whether or not she should be forgiven.
He would first take delight in this moment. Sitting with his sole true friend, drinking cheap beer in a small apartment. The truthful moment in a world of lies.
Everything would have changed soon. It would not take long before the whole world realized that Robert Jackson was no longer the man to push around.
He was the one who would strike back. Harder. Stronger. Without mercy.
Dave, said Robert suddenly, a thought coming to him. “Would you prefer to work at Zenco? Manager position. Six figures to start. Seven if you're good."
Dave nearly spit out his beer. His eyes went wide. "Are you serious? You're not joking?"
"Dead serious. I need people I can trust. It is only you who can be described so. You stood by me when I possessed nothing. When everyone else ran."
Dave smiled, and his whole face flushed. "When do I start?"
"Monday. At half past nine AM report to my office. Don't be late."
They clasped hands and the deal was closed. Dave's grip was firm. Honest. Loyal.
Robert was going to leave, and in a long gulp emptied his beer. "I should get going. Big day tomorrow. Lots to prepare."
Dave escorted him to the door, and was still smiling like a Christmas kid. "Robert? Do not lose yourself in all this. Revenge is a sweet thing but do not allow it to poison you. Don't let it turn you into them."
Robert nodded, and made no reply. He did not know how to answer that. Not yet anyway.
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CHAPTER THREE HUNDRED AND TEN
Several months later the penthouse had the specific quality of a home that had discovered its true form.Not the version before all that. The version with all the things and that had come through it and was bigger for the coming through. Toy in corners. A board book on the coffee table. There was a second small chair, which had been set down next to the first chair. A carry arrangement at the door next to Clara's coat.Robert was in the living room on the floor.Clara was standing there next to him, constructing something out of blocks. The particular bold design of a person who had determined that these blocks would be a component of something, and who was negotiating with the physical laws whether or not that could be done.Pius was lying on the mat next to her. He was four months old, and he was beginning to have opinions about the world. He observed Clara's building of blocks like a note taker.Robert glanced at both of them.There was no thought of anything around him in his mind
CHAPTER THREE HUNDRED AND NINE
Phillip was arrested on Tuesday morning.He was in his lawyer's office when the FBI agents knocked there. Not dramatically. Two agents. A formal document. The quality of procedure used in an arrest, a carefully-prepared rather than suddenly-arranged arrest.His lawyer was with him all the time.Phillip glanced over the document. He read it. He handed it back.He looked at his lawyer.His lawyer looked at him with the look of one who knew this was going to happen, and had been preparing for it, and he was here when it was supposed to happen.His lawyer said, "All right?"Yes," Phillip said.He stood.He went along with the agents.The charges were specific and comprehensive. Conspiracy. Financial crimes linked to the initial Zenco case which had been completely uncovered during the disclosure. Obstruction related to the Leonard communication and what that communication had stimulated. The two fatalities overseas that Carver had described in his own cooperation agreement, and that the f
CHAPTER THREE HUNDRED AND EIGHT
Patricia's piece was aired on a Friday morning.Not in any outlet. Patricia had set up simultaneous publishing on three big platforms. Such a coordinated release that was able to communicate the story and wasn't looking for attention but managing it. Responding to a story which had already been built around them by giving them the complete real story before any more construction was added.Robert read it at his desk at six AM.He read it, just as he read her other piece. Thoroughly and at a relaxed pace. He read what she had written about the fake document and where it came from, and what the federal investigation had found regarding the origin of the fake document. He read her letter on Roxanne's history, and the medical history and his particular sequence which made her implication in the fabrication impossible. He read what she had written about the DNA result and the documentation and the chain of custody that made the result unchallengeable.He read the portion of Maxime.It was
CHAPTER THREE HUNDRED AND SEVEN
DNA results came back on Thursday morning.Robert was in the kitchen island when the secure message was received from the laboratory. A document attached. He briefly read the notification. Then he opened it.He read it.He placed the phone face down on the island.He sat still.He looked at the counter in front of him. On the coffee machine. The fruit bowl. The things of everyday life, the things they saw every morning, ordinary, and the things they did every day.So, it is what he had known. Pius Robert Jackson. It was clear, specific and unambiguous and backed by federal laboratory certification.His son. Without a doubt and without question.He took up the phone.He read it again.He put it down.He placed both hands on the island.He looked at them.There was something that he didn't expect to happen.He was not surprised with the outcome. He knew what the answer was going to be. He had assured Patricia Osei that the outcome would be what it is. He had been sitting with Roxanne in
CHAPTER THREE HUNDRED AND SIX
Robert's worst board meeting since the Victoria Castellano period was the meeting on Monday.He was at the top of the table and was studying the faces round him and reading all of them, as he had been reading the rooms for years.Angela Voss was a little sad and somewhat irritated. When Robert was called on Sunday, it was Saturday evening and she had told him two things. The Board's support of him. That the board had to get him to stabilize the Zenco's position in the week or the stabilizing would be done without him.Both statements had been made in the same voice. Not as a threat and not as a comfort. Simply as fact.Bloom was gazing at the table. He had been gazing at the table for twelve minutes.Stanton was observing Robert, as if he had been in business for thirty-five years and was making a decision.There were three other board members who remained in the seats they were in all along. The expressions they used had the distinctive careful neutrality of those who await the direc
CHAPTER THREE HUNDRED AND FIVE
Patricia Osei came to the penthouse at two PM.She came alone. No photographer. No recording assistant. The only thing different here was herself and the small recorder she'd set on the kitchen island the same way she had on Robert's desk eighteen months ago, when she'd written the profile that had altered the public perception of him.She looked at Robert and Roxanne across the island.She took a look at them, as she had taken a look at Robert when he was working alone in his office. Not assessing. Reading. The particular attribute of a journalist who knew that the best information in an interview was before the end of the tape.“Well, before we start we need to know a few things," she said. "Off the record."“Go ahead," Robert said.“What you are about to do,” she said. “You’re going to be recorded today. About the test.” She gave both of them a glance. “I want to know you understand that, you don't owe this to anyone.”Roxanne looked at her.“The thing is, we know,” Roxanne said. “
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