The Rebirth Of A Titan

CHAPTER 9

The dining room smelled like roasted lamb and spilled wine. It was the same heavy scent that had filled the air in my first life.

Back then, I had sat in this exact chair and practically begged my father for a chance. I had looked like a desperate kid trying to please a king.

Tonight, I just sat there and drank my wine. It was a damn good vintage, much better than the vinegar Marcus usually bought.

Marcus sat across from me, looking like he had already won the lottery. He was wearing a silk tie that cost more than most people's cars.

Sarah sat next to him, her fingers lightly brushing his arm under the table. She thought I couldn't see it, but the System saw everything.

My father, Elias, sat at the head of the long mahogany table. He looked at us with eyes that were as cold as gravestones.

"I’ve called you both here to discuss the future," he said. His voice was deep and made the silverware rattle.

"The company needs a clear path. The tech division has been underperforming, and I need to know who is going to lead it," he continued.

Marcus leaned forward, his face full of fake passion. He looked like a puppy waiting for a treat.

"Father, I’ve spent the last six months analyzing our competitors," Marcus said. "I have a strategy that will put us at the top of the market."

He looked at me with a mocking grin. "Of course, Victor has been busy with his own little projects, but I think the tech side needs a fresh vision."

In my first life, this was where I would have started yelling. I would have called him a liar and made myself look like a fool.

This time, I just set my glass down quietly. The clink of the crystal sounded like a gunshot in the silent room.

"A fresh vision is a great idea, Marcus," I said. My voice was smooth and calm, like a calm lake before a storm.

I pulled a slim tablet from my jacket and slid it across the table toward my father. The screen was glowing with blue data lines.

"I took the liberty of drafting a five year growth plan," I told my father. "It is backed by real time market simulations and verified logistics."

My father picked up the tablet. I watched his eyes move behind his glasses. He was a man who only cared about numbers.

The System flickered in my vision. It was showing me my father's interest level rising like a thermometer in the sun.

"This is impressive, Victor," Elias muttered. "The projected revenue for the third quarter is higher than anything our consultants suggested."

Marcus’s face turned a nasty shade of red. He looked like he was about to choke on a piece of bread.

"That's just a bunch of fancy numbers, Father!" Marcus barked. "Graphs don't run a business. People do."

I looked at Marcus and gave him a pitying smile. It was the kind of look you give to a person who doesn't realize their house is on fire.

"You're right, Marcus. People do run the business," I said. "And some people are better at it than others."

I tapped a button on my phone, and the display on the tablet changed. A new set of red bars appeared on the screen.

"While I was working on the growth plan, I noticed a few weird things in the tech division's current books," I said.

The room went so quiet I could hear the clock ticking in the hallway. Sarah’s hand froze on Marcus’s arm.

"What do you mean by irregularities?" my father asked. He leaned in, his eyes narrowing.

"It's probably nothing," I said, playing it cool. "Just some small leaks in the server maintenance budget. About two percent of the total spend."

I looked directly at Marcus. I watched his pupils dilate with pure, unadulterated terror.

"It's funny, though," I continued. "The money seems to be flowing into a shell company that was registered just three months ago."

Marcus slammed his hands on the table. "That’s a lie! You’re just trying to frame me because you're jealous!"

"I didn't say it was you, Marcus," I said. I took a slow sip of my wine. "Why are you getting so defensive?"

"Enough!" my father roared. He looked at Marcus like he was a bug he wanted to squish under his boot.

"Victor has presented a plan that makes sense," Elias said. "Marcus, you will bring me a full audit of your division by Monday morning."

Marcus looked like he was going to vomit. He knew he couldn't hide the theft once the accountants started digging.

In my first life, Marcus used that stolen money to buy off the board of directors. He used it to fund the knife he put in my gut.

Not this time, you little shit, I thought. I’m going to make sure you don't have enough cash to buy a pack of gum.

Sarah looked at me with a expression I had never seen before. It was a mix of fear and a weird kind of curiosity.

"Victor, dear, you've really changed," she said. Her voice was shaking just a little bit.

I looked at her and felt nothing but a cold, hard void. "The world changes, Sarah. You either keep up or you get left behind."

I didn't even bother finishing my dinner. I had already gotten what I came for.

"I have a meeting to setup with the Grand Company," I told my father.

My father looked up at me, and for the first time in my life, I saw something that looked like respect in his eyes.

"Don't disappoint me, Victor," he said. It wasn't a warm remark, but it was better than the silence I usually got.