Shattered Mask

CHAPTER 6

A MAN WITH SECRETS

"How dare you barge in here like this!" Leslie shouted, her voice shrill.

"And why weren't you here an hour ago?" Linda added, her face flushing a deep, angry red.

"Where have you been, you pathetic boy?"

Jack tilted his head, looking at them as if they were curious insects under a microscope.

"Whoa. Easy. One at a time. I can’t answer everyone at once, can I?" He said in a mocking tone

"Don't you use that tone with me!" Linda slammed her hand on the table. "Where are your manners? Where have you been for two days?"

Jack pulled out a chair...the one at the opposite end of the table from Linda...and sat down, crossing his legs comfortably.

"Well, I thought Leslie told you. When I found out she was sleeping with that lowlife..." he nodded toward Robert

"...and that the child she is carrying isn't mine, I decided I had had enough of the scenery here."

The table went silent.

"How dare you call my brother-in-law a lowlife!" Bernard, Leslie’s brother, barked as he stepped forward, pointing a finger at Jack’s face.

Jack didn't flinch. He just looked at the finger, then up at Bernard.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees. Bernard’s hand shook, and he slowly pulled it back, intimidated by a look he couldn't understand.

Jack turned back to Leslie.

"So, you called. What is the emergency? Did you run out of wine? Or did the microwave break again?" Jack asked sarcastically.

"Look here, you stupid fool," Robert growled, stepping around the table. He was a head taller than Jack and twice as wide.

"You have three seconds to apologise to me, and to this family, or I will finish what I started three days ago. I will break more than just your jaw this time."

Jack didn't stand up. He didn't even stop smiling. He just leaned back, tapped the manila envelope against his knee, and looked Robert dead in the eye.

"I would love to see you try, Robert. Really. Give me a reason." Jack said, maintaining a sarcastic smile on his face

He stood up from the chair and faced Robert.

"You heard me, boy. Down on your knees. Apologise, or I will make sure you never walk straight again," Robert growled, taking a predatory step forward.

The two men in grey suits shifted, their frames blocking the path, but Jack raised a hand, signalling them to hold.

"Let him try, boys. I want to see it," Jack said.

He leaned back, the mockery in his eyes sharper than a blade.

"But Robert, if there is an apology to be made today, it is yours. You and your thugs humiliated me in your home. You took advantage of a man who had nothing. Now? Now the debt is due.

Get on your knees and beg, and maybe I will be merciful."

"You arrogant little prick!" Robert’s face turned a violent shade of purple.

He lunged, his hand whistling through the air in a heavy, desperate slap.

Jack’s movement was a blur. His left hand clamped around Robert’s wrist mid-air, the grip like a steel vice. The impact made a dull thud that echoed in the silent room.

"Don't you ever dare," Jack whispered, his voice dropping to a dangerous, icy register.

The smile was gone. In its place was the cold gaze of a predator.

"You only had power over me because I allowed it. But that version of Jack? He died in the dirt outside your mansion."

With a sharp, effortless shove, Jack sent Robert reeling. The big man stumbled back, his expensive shoes slick on the polished floor, before landing hard on his backside.

The silence that followed was deafening.

The "millionaire" was on the floor, breathless and humiliated, while the "repairman" didn't even have a hair out of place.

"I am going to destroy you," Robert wheezed, scrambling to his feet, his dignity in tatters.

"I will blackball you from this city. I will reduce you to a beggar eating out of trash cans. I swear it!" Robert threatened him in embarrassment.

Leslie stood frozen, her mouth slightly open. The family watched like they were witnessing a glitch in reality.

The timid, broken Jack was gone, replaced by someone who moved with the weight of a king.

"Kneel! Now! I promise you I will destroy you" Linda fumed, stepping toward Jack with her finger trembling in rage.

“None of you have the capacity to destroy; that bastard you call a son-in-law does not even have a job of his own now, stop claiming supremacy,” Jack retorted

"Robert is the CEO of Riverworth Hospitality Holdings. He is a man of status! He is a millionaire. You are a parasite, a grease monkey leeching off my family’s kindness" Bernard chipped in again with a mocking tone, seeing the perfect opportunity to turn the tables and humiliate Jack.

"CEO?" Jack tilted his head, a ghost of a smirk returning.

"He was the CEO, Linda. But a title is only as good as the contract it’s printed on. And Robert’s contract? It just became expensive toilet paper. It is trash now"

"He doesn't know what he is talking about!" Robert shouted, though a bead of sweat rolled down his temple. "I will have you arrested! I will..."

His pocket vibrated. The sharp, persistent ring of his phone cut through his threat.

Jack checked his watch. "Right on time. I would answer that if I were you, Robert. It’s the board of directors. I would love to see you maintain that 'CEO' energy while they are stripping you of your stock options."

Robert stared at Jack, his face pale. He pulled the phone out.

His eyes widened as he read the caller ID. The arrogance drained out of him instantly, replaced by a look of sheer, cold terror.

He answered with a voice that had lost all its bass.

"H-hello? Yes, sir... but sir, the quarterly results...I can explain..." Robert’s words died in his throat.

He pulled the phone away from his ear, staring at the screen. The line was dead.

"Broke already?" Jack mocked, his voice cutting through the room like a whip. "That was fast."

"Babe? What's happening?" Leslie stepped toward Robert, her voice trembling.

"Nothing! It's nothing!" Robert stammered, his eyes darting toward the door. "Just a... an urgent client meeting. I have to go. Now."

"Or did you just get told your contract won't be renewed?" Jack taunted, standing up slowly.

"Tell them the truth, Robert Williams. Tell them the board found out about your 'creative' accounting and the kickbacks.

You aren't going to a meeting. You are going to an interrogation."

Linda’s head whipped toward Jack. "How do you know his name? How do you know about his contract?"

"I know everything, Linda," Jack said, his voice flat.

"I know you pushed Leslie to marry this fraud because you wanted that catering contract with Riverworth. I know you forced this divorce because you thought he was your golden ticket to the elite.

For your ideal son-in-law, let’s just say the board found out about all his dealings that were against the company's policies and they have decided to terminate him."

He turned to the table, looking at the stunned, pale faces of the Smith family.