The Gilded Rebirth of Alexander Wirakusuma

chapter 2

The Rolls-Royce Phantom glided to a halt in front of the soaring glass monolith that was the Wirakusuma Tower. The commissionaire stepped forward, his white-gloved hand opening the door with practiced grace, but Alexander didn't wait for the usual pleasantries. He stepped out, his movements sharp and energized, leaving a flustered Nadia to scramble after him with her tablet and his briefcase.

"Sir! Wait!" Nadia called out, her heels clicking rapidly against the polished marble of the lobby. "The board is already in the conference room. They’ve seen the notification. My phone is vibrating so hard it’s practically melting in my pocket!"

Alexander didn't slow down. He headed straight for the private executive elevator. "Let it melt. It’ll save you the trouble of deleting the call logs later."

"Maximilian has called four times in the last three minutes," she whispered as the elevator doors slid shut. "He sounds... panicked. He said if this is a joke, it’s not funny."

"Oh, it's definitely not a joke," Alexander said, checking his reflection in the mirrored wall. He straightened his tie, his expression unreadable. "It's a correction. Tell me, is Everett here yet?"

"Mr. Pradipta? He just texted. He’s waiting in the lounge on the 42nd floor with his team. He said he brought the specific 'papers' you asked for, but he’s confused why you need them for a merger signing."

"He'll understand soon enough. Tell him to meet me in the boardroom in five minutes. Not four, not six. Five."

The elevator chimed. The doors opened to the top floor, usually a place of hushed whispers and the scent of expensive cigars. Today, it sounded like a hornet’s nest. As Alexander stepped into the hallway, the heavy oak doors of the main boardroom swung open.

Dorian Suryaputra, a senior director with a penchant for silk pocket squares and backroom deals, marched out, his face a mottled shade of purple.

"Alexander! What the hell is this?" Dorian barked, waving his tablet in the air. "I just got a system-wide alert. The merger's been flagged for 'administrative withdrawal'? Have you lost your damn mind?"

Alexander walked past him, heading straight for the head of the long mahogany table. "Good morning to you too, Dorian. You're looking well. Is that a new tailor? The stitching is a bit... desperate."

"Don't play games with me, kid," Dorian snarled, following him into the room. The other six board members were already there, frozen in various states of shock. "We have the Lestari family waiting for a signed contract by noon. The market opening is riding on this. You can't just 'cancel' a deal of this magnitude because you had a bad dream!"

Alexander pulled out his chair and sat down, leaning back with a casualness that seemed to infuriate Dorian further. "It wasn't a bad dream, Dorian. It was a moment of clarity. I realized I was about to sign a deal with a group of people who couldn't find their own shadows in a dark room."

"This is insane," one of the other directors, a thin man named Hendra, stammered. "Alex, your father built this alliance. Max and Aurelia have spent months—"

"Max and Aurelia aren't the ones sitting in this chair," Alexander interrupted, his voice dropping an octave. "I am. And as of now, the Nusantara-Lestari merger is not just on hold. It’s incinerated."

Dorian slammed his palms onto the table. "You can't do that! We’ll vote you out! We’ll call for a vote of no confidence right now!"

"On what grounds?" Alexander asked, tilting his head. "Because I'm protecting the company from a massive liability you tried to hide?"

Dorian’s eyes flickered. It was a split-second tell, but to Alexander—who had seen the fallout of this 'liability' from his deathbed—it was as bright as a flare. "What are you talking about? There are no liabilities. The due diligence was perfect."

"Was it?" Alexander pulled a slim manila folder from the briefcase Nadia had just set down. He tossed it onto the table. "Page fourteen. The Citra Heights land acquisition that you pushed so hard for as part of the Lestari sweetener. You told us it was prime real estate for the new luxury development."

"It is!" Dorian insisted. "It’s the crown jewel of the deal."

"It’s a toxic waste dump, Dorian," Alexander said calmly. "Specifically, it was a mercury processing site in the late eighties. The groundwater is contaminated beyond repair. In about three years, the heavy metal levels in the surrounding residential area are going to spike. People will get sick. The lawsuits alone will bankrupt whoever owns that dirt."

The room went deathly silent. Dorian’s mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. "That... that’s impossible. The environmental reports came back clean."

"They came back clean because you paid the lead surveyor fifty thousand dollars to use soil samples from a golf course ten miles away," Alexander said. "I have the bank transfer records, Dorian. And the surveyor's signed confession."

He didn't actually have the confession yet—that would take a few more hours of Everett’s 'persuasion'—but the look on Dorian’s face told him he didn't need it to win the room.

"You... you’re bluffing," Dorian whispered, his bravado crumbling. "How could you possibly know that? You haven't left your office in weeks."

"I have my ways," Alexander said, standing up. "Nadia, is Everett here?"

As if on cue, the doors opened. Everett Pradipta, a man whose smile was as sharp as his legal mind, walked in with two associates carrying heavy briefcases.

"Right on time, Alex," Everett said, nodding to the board. "I have the Notice of Breach and the immediate termination papers for Mr. Suryaputra’s contract. Do you want me to read the 'Ethics and Loyalty' clause out loud, or should we skip to the part where security escorts him out?"

"Alex, wait!" Dorian gasped, his face now pale. "We can talk about this! If there’s an issue with Citra Heights, we can just remove it from the deal. There’s no need to be so... drastic."

"I think there is," Alexander said, walking around the table until he was inches from Dorian. "You didn't just lie about a land deal, Dorian. You tried to poison my company's future for a kickback. That’s a breach of loyalty I can't overlook."

"You're making a mistake," Dorian hissed, his voice trembling with a mix of fear and rage. "The Lestari family won't take this lightly. And Max... Max is going to be furious."

"I'm counting on it," Alexander replied. "Everett, give him the papers. Dorian, you have ten minutes to clear your desk. Anything left behind goes into the shredder—including those cigars you steal from the lounge."

"You'll regret this!" Dorian shouted as security guards appeared at the door. "You’re a dead man in this industry! Nobody will work with a loose cannon like you!"

Alexander watched him being led away, his expression cold. He turned back to the remaining board members, who were staring at him as if he had just sprouted a second head.

"Does anyone else have a 'golden deal' they’d like to discuss?" Alexander asked.

Hendra cleared his throat, looking down at his notes. "No, Mr. Wirakusuma. I think... I think we’re all set for today."

"Good. Meeting adjourned. Nadia, my office."

Alexander walked out of the boardroom, the adrenaline finally starting to settle into a cold, hard resolve. He entered his office—a sprawling space of glass and chrome—and went straight to the window. The city looked different today. It looked like a chessboard.

Nadia followed him in, closing the door softly. "Sir... that was... I’ve never seen you like that. How did you know about the soil? We didn't even have a file on Citra Heights' history."

"Intuition, Nadia. And a very long night of reading," Alexander lied smoothly. "What’s next on my schedule?"

Nadia looked at her tablet, her hands still shaking slightly. "Well, your afternoon was cleared for the merger celebration, but obviously that’s canceled. However... this arrived via courier ten minutes ago. It’s marked 'Private and Urgent.'"

She handed him a heavy, cream-colored envelope sealed with a wax stamp—a stylized phoenix.

Alexander felt a jolt of recognition. The Adhisti family.

In his previous life, the Adhistis were the ghosts of the Indonesian elite. They didn't do mergers. They didn't do public appearances. They held the true keys to the kingdom, and they had stayed silent while the Wirakusuma Group fell, likely because they found Alexander too weak to be worth their time.

He tore open the envelope. Inside was a single card of black cardstock with gold calligraphy.

The Adhisti Estate requests your presence for a private auction of 'Forgotten Assets.' Midnight, Friday. Bring nothing but your ambition.

"An invitation to an Adhisti auction?" Nadia whispered, peeking at the card. "Sir, people kill for those. They only send invitations to the top five families, and we haven't been on that list since your father passed."

Alexander traced the gold lettering with his thumb. In his past life, Maximilian had been the one to get this invitation—two years later, after he had stolen Alexander’s company. It was at that auction that Maximilian had acquired the tech patents that made him a global titan.

"It seems my 'sudden' change in behavior has caught someone's eye," Alexander muttered.

"Are you going to go?"

Alexander looked out at the skyline, a predatory smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Nadia, call the tailor. I need a new tuxedo. Something that says I’m not just back in the game."

"What does it say then, sir?"

Alexander’s eyes turned stone-cold. "It says I’m here to buy the whole damn stadium."