2026-05-20 01:33:51After breakfast, Erick waited until the last car disappeared down the driveway before slipping out of the Laurent residence. He couldn't risk any of the servants noticing he was gone.
A black sedan idled in the alley behind the building. The rear window rolled down. Ivan looked the same, except sharper around the eyes. The old scar on his left hand hadn’t changed Eight years as his head of security, and the man still had the same scar cutting across the back of his left hand. They rarely spoke outside of missions, but Ivan had never failed to show up when called. Erick climbed into the back seat. The car pulled away before he'd even closed the door. Erick got in. The car sped off before his door fully closed. "You look like trash," Ivan said in Russian. "English only," Erick said. Ivan smirked. "Five years playing house servant, and this is what's left? Getting bitched at by maids?" Ivan lit a cigarette. "I know about the baby. Aria told me. Sorry, Boss." Erick's jaw flexed. "Don't." Ivan nodded. "Okay. Won't mention it again." A few minutes later, Erick's phone buzzed. A message from Dominique: [Vanessa's divorce party tonight. Martin will attend despite your behavior. Try acting like an adult for one evening. I am tired of cleaning up your messes.] Erick set the phone down. He stared at the Gerard Dominion building in the distance. Five years ago, "Quade" was a name people feared. Now, the world moved on like Quade never existed. The car stopped at a red light. His new phone buzzed. Unknown number: [EMERGENCY BOARD MEETING BY ORDER OF QUADE. ] Another message: [ VICTOR HALE WILL ANNOUNCE QUADE'S DEATH TODAY] . Erick's grip tightened. "In that case... I'm done hiding." *** Ivan parked in the underground garage, wiping grease off his hands. "I'll wait here." "Get upstairs." "Boss, it's boring as hell up there." "You're coming. I need backup." Ivan snorted. "Fine. But if I break someone's jaw, it's coming out of your paycheck." Erick entered the lobby wearing a frayed black windbreaker, faded T-shirt, and worn-out jeans. His sneakers had long lost their white color. “Sir?” The receptionist (Clara, according to her name tag) looked him up and down. “This area is for authorized personnel only.” “Board meeting,” Erick said, still walking. She blinked, then gave a disbelieving laugh. “I’m sorry… who are you?” Security moved in quickly. A large guard grabbed Erick’s arm. “You need to leave, buddy.” Before Erick could react, Ivan was beside him. “Get your hand off him.” The lobby went quiet. People stared. Clara’s expression shifted as she typed rapidly on her computer. By then, people were staring. Someone muttered something about calling the police. Another joked that a homeless guy had wandered in looking for free coffee. The elevator dinged, and every assistant on the floor froze mid-movement. "Miss Aria..." Clara started. "Is this how we treat major shareholders now?" Aria's voice was calm but carried. "This man is the founder and CEO. Show some respect." The guard immediately let go. The whispering stopped. Aria looked Erick over, her face unreadable to everyone else. Only he noticed the slight tightness in her jaw. In the elevator, Aria stared straight ahead. “You could have warned me,” she said. “And miss the show downstairs?” Erick replied. She exhaled through her nose, almost a laugh. “Five years later and you’re still difficult.” They rode up in silence for a few floors. “You’ve been letting them walk all over you,” she said quietly. Erick didn’t answer. There would be time for that conversation later. When the doors opened on the executive floor, assistants froze mid-step. A tablet nearly slipped from someone's hands. Victor Hale was stepping out of the boardroom, laughing until he saw Erick. The laugh died instantly. Erick walked straight past him and purposely slammed his shoulder into Victor's. The man stumbled hard into the wall. Erick didn't even glance back. He pushed open the boardroom doors. Eight heads turned at once. Victor's chair — Erick's chair — sat empty at the head of the table. Erick walked slowly across the room, his shoes leaving faint traces of dirt on the polished floor. Erick walked to the head of the table, pulled out the chairman’s chair, and sat down. The room went completely silent. “Victor won’t be joining us,” he said. “We’ll start without him.” Michael, one of the original board members, looked like he might choke. “Quade?” Erick leaned back. “Still alive, Mike.” He scanned the faces around the table slowly. Many of them had known him when they were eating instant noodles in a freezing garage almost a decade years ago. “First order,” he continued. “Victor Hale is suspended, effective immediately.” No one spoke. Michael swallowed. "There are procedures..." Erick tossed his phone onto the table. "Second: someone sent me condolences on my death this morning. I'll be finding out who." He let the silence stretch, then gave a small, cold smile. "Bad news, gentlemen. Quade isn't dead." He casually pulled the thick, leather-bound financial report toward him and flipped open the first page. The cold smile instantly faded from his face as his eyes locked onto the active acquisition data. His eyes narrowed. [LAURENT CORP - EMERGENCY CAPITAL INJECTION: $200,000,000 APPROVED BY V. HALE.] Erick tapped his finger against the paper, his voice dropping into a register that promised absolute ruin. "Interesting... It seems my company is being used to bail out a family of thieves."
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 84—We Attack
The first contract delay arrived at 9:03 a.m. as a polite email.A mid-tier logistics partner that had worked with GD Tech for four years requested a temporary pause on a pending infrastructure renewal agreement. The language was careful. They cited internal review processes and the ongoing federal matters surrounding the company. No accusation. No open withdrawal. Just a pause that could stretch indefinitely if no one pushed back.By noon there were three more.Erick read each one in the restricted operations room without comment. The federal oversight already limited major transfers and system changes. Now the quiet isolation the intermediary had described was beginning to take shape in real time. Partners were not cutting ties. They were simply becoming cautious in ways that required no public explanation.Remi stood beside him, arms folded. “They’re doing exactly what he said they would. No speeches. No visible attack. Just distance.”“Yes,” Erick said. “And distance is harder to
Chapter 83— What We’re Searching For
The two dark cars stayed with them for eleven blocks.Jacqueline took a sudden left, then two rights through narrower streets. The cars adjusted without hurry, as if they already knew the route options. When she finally cut through a service alley and emerged on a different avenue, the tails were gone — but the message was clear.They had been allowed to notice.Back at the secondary facility, the atmosphere had changed. No one raised their voice. No one wasted movement. Erick stood at the central table while Aria replayed the surveillance fragments she had captured from street cameras. The vehicles were clean. No plates that led anywhere useful. No faces visible through the tinted glass.“They’re not trying to grab us,” Jacqueline said. “Not yet. They’re showing us they can sit on our shoulder whenever they want.”Remi stood with her arms folded tightly. “The general reported the conversation immediately. That was the point of letting you walk out.”Erick nodded. “He gave us a name f
Chapter 82— Very Confident or Very Stupid
The car stopped two blocks short of the address.Erick sat in the back seat with the window cracked just enough to let in the cold air. Remi was beside him. Jacqueline drove. No one spoke for a full minute after the engine cut off.The building was a quiet brick residential block on a tree-lined street. No doorman. No visible cameras at street level. The kind of place that looked forgettable on purpose.“Third floor,” Jacqueline said. “Corner unit. He’s been inside for forty minutes.”Erick checked the time. “We don’t go up. We wait.”Remi’s hands rested still in her lap. “If he panics—”“He won’t see us,” Erick said. “Not yet.”They watched.At 9:17 the general left the building. He was older than the photographs, silver hair cut short, dark coat, walking with the controlled pace of a man who had spent decades expecting to be observed. He carried nothing in his hands. A black car was already waiting at the curb. He got in without looking around.The car pulled away.Jacqueline follow
Chapter 81—Silent Pressure
The federal oversight order hit at 7:14 a.m.It arrived as a sealed digital packet, locked behind three layers of encryption and stamped with a court seal that basically said, don’t even try to argue.Erick read it once in the secure conference room of the secondary GD Tech site, then read it again, slower.While the investigation into the Global Tech Summit and the related system activity continued, operational control of Gerard Dominion Technologies was being placed under temporary federal review. From that moment on, any major money transfers, core system changes, or public statements needed prior clearance.He set the tablet down without saying a word.Remi watched him from across the table. The exhaustion from the Summit was still written all over her face, but she kept her posture
Chapter 80 — First Names
The temporary safe house was quieter than the Summit had been, but the silence carried more weight.Erick sat at the central table with the lights dimmed. The damp navy suit had been replaced by a clean black shirt and dark trousers, though the bandages under the fabric still pulled when he moved. Remi sat across from him. Jacqueline leaned against the wall. Aria’s hologram hovered above the table, already pulling data streams.“We start with the two names Dominique gave us,” Erick said. “The retired general and the private equity woman. We treat everything else as noise until we have a real trail.”Aria’s interface expanded. “I’ve cross-referenced both names against every financial and communications log we currently control. The general is easier to surface. Retired three years ago. Still holds informal advisory roles on two defense technology committees. The woman is harder. She operates through a private equity fund registered under three different holding companies. Most of the r
Chapter 79 — The Next Layer
Remi remained beside him, her hand still resting on the table near his.“They didn’t even flinch when you asked about the Clarkes,” she said quietly. “That’s not caution. That’s protection.”Erick nodded once. “Leroy lost the public battle today. His name is toxic now. Michel is finished. Evelyn will spend the rest of her life managing the fallout. But the Clarkes walked out of here without a single question. That doesn’t happen by accident.”He stood and walked to the glass wall, looking down at the main hall. Leroy was no longer visible. Neither were Martin nor the Congressman. The space they had occupied was already being cleared by event staff and federal personnel.Jacqueline entered the room a moment later, followed by Adrian. Ivan waited just outside with two of his men.“Federal agents are setting up a temporary command post on the third floor,” Jacqueline reported. “They’re treating the recordings as primary evidence against the Laurents. But there’s no active warrant for Mar
You may also like
Back From Prison!
KMyay180.5K viewsI AM NOT A POOR SON-IN-LAW
Calendula611.9K viewsThe Billionaire's Revenge
Hare Ra83.5K viewsThe Rise Of The Unknown Zillionaire Heir
Gem Lynne164.2K viewsI Became A Billionaire Overnight
Adewale 63 viewsThe Son-in-Law's Revenge
DORIS HARVEY 58 viewsThe Laughing King
Lady Gema160 viewsThe Boy in the Alley
Samson Jay48 views