Ron Donaldo: Rise Of The Apex Don

Chapter 20

The screen instantly went completely black. The normal white lights in the boardroom slowly turned back on. 

The silence returned. It was heavier than before. 

Mr. Henderson looked at Marcus. His tear-stained face suddenly turned into a mask of pure anger. 

"Do it," Henderson growled. 

Marcus stepped back. "What?"

"Do it!" Mrs. Lee yelled. She pointed her sharp finger at him. "Confess! Save our money! Save the company!"

"I will not go to prison for you!" Marcus screamed. "I am the CEO!"

"You are nothing!" Henderson shouted. He grabbed a heavy glass water pitcher from the table and threw it at Marcus. 

SMASH.

The glass shattered against the wall right next to Marcus’s head. Water splashed all over his expensive gray suit. 

"We will not let you destroy our lives!" Henderson roared. He walked toward Marcus. His fists were closed. The other board members began to step forward, too. They looked like angry wolves. They had lost their minds. The fear of losing their money had turned them into animals. 

"Stay back!" Marcus yelled, holding his hands up. He looked at Theresa. "Theresa! Help me!"

Theresa did not help him. She slowly backed away toward the door. She looked at her husband with total disgust. 

"You promised me we would win, Marcus," she whispered. "You said he was just a bug."

She turned around and ran out of the boardroom, her high heels clicking quickly down the hall. She was abandoning him, just like she had abandoned Ron five years ago. 

Marcus was totally alone. The angry board members were closing in on him. 

He had to run. He had to escape. 

Marcus pushed past Mrs. Lee, knocking her to the floor. He ran out the heavy oak doors. He ran down the long, carpeted hallway toward his private office. His heart pounded in his ears. His breath came in short, painful gasps. 

He burst into his huge, beautiful corner office. He slammed the door and locked it. 

He ran to his desk and opened the bottom drawer. He pulled out a large, heavy black bag. He started throwing things into it. Stacks of emergency cash. His passport. His gold watches. 

He was going to run. He would fly to his private island. He would hide forever. 

He grabbed his private phone to call his pilot. 

Before he could dial the number, the phone rang in his hand. 

It was an Unknown Number. 

Marcus stared at the glowing screen. His hand was shaking violently. He slowly pressed the green button and held it to his ear. 

"Hello?" Marcus whispered. 

"Marcus," a smooth, polite, cold voice said. 

It was The Director. 

"Sir!" Marcus cried, feeling a sudden wave of hope. "Sir, please help me! Ron has the lithium! He is destroying everything! The board is turning on me! I need a helicopter! I need your men to save me!"

The Director sighed softly. It was a sound of deep disappointment. 

"You have failed me, Marcus," The Director said calmly. "I gave you an empire, and you let a single engineer tear it down in three days. You are a weak man."

"No, please! I can fix it!" Marcus begged. Tears streamed down his face. 

"You cannot fix anything," The Director said. "The Sterling Tech project is a loss. I am cutting my losses. I do not leave loose ends, Marcus. Loose ends talk to the FBI."

"What... what do you mean?" Marcus choked. 

"Walk to your window, Marcus. Look down."

Marcus dropped the bag of money. He walked slowly across the thick carpet to the massive floor-to-ceiling glass window of his office. He was on the 90th floor. He looked down at the street far below. 

At the front entrance of the Sterling Tech tower, he saw five black vans pull up. 

Dozens of men in heavy tactical gear poured out of the vans. They were not police. They were not Ron’s Iron Legion. They wore dark gray uniforms with no badges. They carried heavy assault rifles. 

They pushed past the building security guards. They shattered the front glass doors. They were entering the lobby. 

"My clean-up crew is in the building, Marcus," The Director said softly through the phone. "They are coming up the elevators now. They have orders to eliminate everyone in the executive suite. You, Theresa, the Board of Directors. All of you."

"No! You cannot do this!" Marcus screamed, hitting his hand against the thick glass window. "I worked for you! I made you billions!"

"Goodbye, Marcus," The Director said. 

Click. 

The line went dead. 

Marcus Thorne stood totally frozen in front of the window. His perfect, wealthy life was completely over. 

Ron Donaldo had starved the castle. The Board of Directors had turned into wild animals. And now, The Director was sending a death squad to burn the castle to the ground. 

Marcus heard a loud DING from the hallway outside his office. 

It was the sound of the private elevator arriving on the 90th floor. 

Heavy combat boots stepped onto the marble floor. 

Thump. Thump. Thump. 

Marcus fell to his knees. He covered his head with his hands, waiting for the end. The trap he had built for Ron had finally closed around his own neck.