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 TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTY
On Sunday evening Robert told Dave.He called instead of waiting for a meeting. He sat home at his office with the door closed and dialed Dave's personal number when it was seven pm.Dave answered on the first ring.“Roxanne is with child,” Robert said.No answer in response.Not the quietness of someone processing. A different kind. The unique silence that follows when someone receives something and let it sit before responding.It took four seconds."Robert," Dave said. His voice was not totally firm."Yes," Robert said.Another silence. Shorter."How far?" Dave said.Robert informed him of the doctor's findings."And Roxanne?" Dave said."Well," Robert said. “Entirely herself, tired and nauseous in the mornings.”Dave was quiet.“Clara will be.” Dave began."About eighteen months.” Robert said.Dave was silent once again.Robert allowed him to remain silent. He sat in the office chair and surveyed the room around him and gave Dave his space.“I'm going to cry,'' Dave said."I know
CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-NINE
It was Saturday, and it was like a morning that didn't know it was different from other mornings.At six o'clock, it was time for Robert to get up. Clara wasn't awake yet. He was making coffee, and standing at the kitchen window watching the city below. Gray early light of a December morning.He had slept well.Better sleeping than he had done for weeks. The special clean sleep that is experienced by those who have had something good come along and temporarily take the place of anything else that had been in their way.After dinner he lay beside Roxanne, who was asleep within twenty minutes, and he glanced up at the ceiling for a while, but he did not think about anything he usually did at night. He had considered a little room. A crib next to the existing crib that is already in the penthouse. The sound of two children breathing.He was asleep while he had that thing in his mind.He was standing in front of the window, holding a cup of coffee.Roxanne came into the kitchen door. She
CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-EIGHT
When she went through the door Robert was in the kitchen.Clara was sitting in her chair. The focused concentration Robert brought to the cooking process was what he used to make dinner. When she entered, he looked up at her.He read her face.He set aside the object he had in his hands."What happened?" he said.She placed her purse on the chair.She looked at him over the kitchen.Clara sat between them and she looked at her. Clara focused her whole morning on Roxanne.Clara said mummy.Her newest word. The same purposeful timing as that of daddy months ago.Roxanne took a look at Clara.Robert could read something moving down her face.He turned.He was standing in front of her."Roxanne," he said.She looked at him.She told him.She spoke plain and truthfully as she spoke things that were true and too big to arrange.Robert's gaze was fixed on her.He was now still as a stone.She looked at his face.She observed all that passed through her. The processing. The precise order of a
CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-SEVEN
Roxanne saw it on a Monday morning.When she was at her laptop in front of the kitchen table, she paused and sat back. Robert lifted his head from the island."You all right?" he said."Tired," she said.He looked at her. She had her hand flat on the table in front of her. Not doing anything. Simply, placing it there.He told her to go back to bed.“It's time for me to attend my nine o’clock meeting,” she answered."Move it," he said.She didn't move it. She drank her coffee and then went to her office and returned home at six o'clock. Robert made dinner. She ate half of it."Come back here, you're not feeling well," he said.“Yes I am fine,” she said. "I am just tired."He glanced across the table at her.She gazed at him."I have been tired before," she said.“Not like this," he said.She wasn't about to challenge that.By Wednesday, the fatigue had companion. A particular morning sickness that came at mornings and sat with her all day into the first two hours. She refused to tell R
CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-SIX
Phillip discovered the irregularities on Thursday afternoon.He was not looking for them.He was going through the old storage box. Not for intelligence use. As part of the disclosure documentary process, the lawyers had requested that he examine what was in the box. All the items in the box had to be catalogued and evaluated for significance in the continuing events.He was carefully going through the box. Documents Identifying Financials from the original case. Letters before Robert's banishment from the family. Records from the early Zenco years.He discovered the folder in the bottom.It was a folder that he had compiled in the initial investigation of Robert's promotion. The time leading up to the period of Maxime's imprisonment. Historical records. Financial documents related to the early stages of the Castellano coalition.He opened it because he had to catalogue it.He read through it for cataloguing purposes.He left it at page seven.A business transaction log of a corporate
CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE
It was a Wednesday, which was the first time in three months that Leonard Hayes has made an external contact.Not the normal paths. Not by his lawyer, nor by the federal communications system that was supervised as part of his custody. The mechanism was discovered four days after its use by Chen's team.A message. Passed through a legitimate legal correspondence channel that had no known connection to Leonard Hayes that was part of a law firm. The firm had previously been used in another property deal years before his arrest, but through a number of intermediaries. The relationship was so weak that it could not be seen in the original case records.It was a Sunday morning when Chen phoned Robert.Robert was sitting at a table with Clara on his lap. Clara was working diligently on a board book. He responded with his free hand, holding Clara with his other.“Leonard reached out to someone out there,” Chen said."Who?" Robert said.“It's a financial operator in Geneva,” Chen said. “It's
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