Strike Back Of The Secret Billionaire

004

Robert Chen had always looked down on people. Like father, like daughter, Brent thought as he watched the man pace in the waiting room of Walker International.

Gone was the arrogant strut Robert was famous for. Gone was the smirk he'd worn at every board meeting.

Now he just looked old. Scared. Every few minutes, he'd check his phone, probably seeing more news about his empire crumbling.

"He's been waiting for two hours," James said, watching the security feed.

"Good." Brent sipped his coffee. "How long did he make me wait that time I tried to meet him as Sarah's boyfriend?"

"Four hours. Then he sent his secretary to say he was too busy to meet with, and I quote, 'the help.'"

"Well then." Brent checked his watch. "Let's make it four hours."

The phone on his desk buzzed. His secretary's voice came through: "Sir, Sarah Chen is trying to enter the building again. She's causing quite a scene in the lobby."

Brent switched the security feed. Sarah was there alright, looking even worse than at the press conference.

Her designer dress was wrinkled, her hair a mess. She was waving her phone at the security guards, showing them old photos of her and Brent.

"I'm his girlfriend!" she was screaming. "He loves me! This is all just a misunderstanding!"

"Should we remove her?" James asked.

"No. Let her stay. I want her father to see exactly what he created."

Two more hours passed. Robert Chen's expensive suit was wrinkled now. He'd loosened his tie, something Brent had never seen him do before.

Every time someone walked past the waiting room, he'd jump up, thinking it was finally his turn.

It wasn't.

Finally, after exactly four hours, Brent pressed the intercom. "Send them both in."

The door opened. Robert Chen practically ran in, but stopped dead when he saw Sarah already there. She was sitting in one of the visitor chairs, makeup streaked down her face.

"Daddy!" she jumped up. "Tell him he can't do this to us! Tell him who we are!"

Robert Chen didn't say anything. He was staring at Brent, finally seeing him clearly. Gone was the "charity case" boyfriend. In his place sat one of the most powerful men in the business world.

"Sit down, Mr. Chen," Brent said quietly. "We have a lot to discuss."

"Now see here," Robert tried to sound tough, but his voice shook. "You can't just-"

"Sit. Down."

Robert sat.

"Two years ago," Brent began, "I came to your office. I was dating your daughter, and I wanted to meet her father. You made me wait four hours, then had your secretary tell me the help wasn't worth your time." He smiled. "How does it feel being the help, Robert?"

"Whatever you want," Robert said quickly, "we can work something out. Money, shares, positions on the board-"

"The same board I dissolved this morning?" Brent opened his laptop. "Or did you mean the offshore accounts you've been hiding from the SEC?"

Robert's face went white.

"What offshore accounts?" Sarah looked confused. "Daddy, what is he talking about?"

"Oh, you didn't tell her?" Brent turned the laptop around. "Your father's been running quite a scheme, Sarah. Fake companies, hidden accounts, money laundering... It's all here. Everything."

"You can't prove anything," Robert whispered.

"Actually, I can. See, while you were busy looking down on the help, the help was busy looking through your files. Amazing what people will show an assistant they think is too stupid to understand what he's seeing."

Sarah stood up. "You're lying! My father built this company from nothing!"

"Really?" Brent pulled out a folder. "So these documents showing how he stole his initial funding from his dying business partner are fake? The proof that he blackmailed investors? The records of all the people he destroyed to build his precious empire?"

Robert Chen put his head in his hands.

"Daddy?" Sarah's voice was small now. "Tell him he's wrong."

"The SEC will be here in an hour," Brent continued. "They're very interested in these files. Especially the ones about your recent dealings in Asia."

"Please," Robert's voice cracked. "I'll give you anything."

"Anything?" Brent stood up slowly. "Like what you took from David Wong's family after he died? After you stole his company and left his children with nothing?"

Sarah's eyes went wide. "David Wong? My godfather?"

"The man who actually built this company," Brent nodded. "The man your father murdered."

The room went silent.

"That's right, Sarah. Daddy dearest here didn't build anything. He stole it. Just like you've been stealing credit for other people's work. Like father, like daughter."

Robert Chen broke. "It was an accident! David found out about the accounts, he was going to expose everything-"

"Daddy, no!" Sarah screamed. "Stop talking!"

But Robert couldn't stop. Twenty years of guilt came pouring out. How he'd confronted David Wong on that empty road. How things had gotten out of hand. How he'd made it look like an accident.

Brent let him talk. Let the security cameras record every word. Let Sarah hear exactly what kind of man her father really was.

When Robert finally stopped talking, the room was dead quiet except for Sarah's sobs.

"The SEC will be here soon," Brent said softly. "And after them, the police. I'd use this time to call your lawyers."

"You planned this," Sarah whispered. "All of it. The assistant job, dating me... it was all just to get revenge?"

"No, Sarah." Brent walked to the window. "I took that job to find out the truth about your father. Dating you? That was real. At least, it was for me." He turned back to face them. "Until I saw you were exactly like him."

Security was already waiting outside his office. They didn't need to be told what to do. As they led the Chens out, Brent could hear Sarah's last desperate screams echoing down the hallway.

His phone buzzed. A message from James: "Police just arrived. They want to talk to Robert Chen about David Wong's death."

Perfect timing.

Brent sat back down at his desk, looking at the empire he'd built. Not stolen, like Robert Chen. Not inherited, like Sarah pretended. Built.

And now? Now everyone would know exactly who he was.

The king wasn't pretending to be a pawn anymore.

He was ready to take everything.