Chapter 8 - The Price of Silence
The room descended into a chaotic storm of buzzing phones and flashing tablet alerts. Directors were jumping up from their chairs, frantically calling their private brokers as news of the Sterling Group's asset freeze hit the wire service.
Sterling sat paralyzed, staring at the thick black binder. The illusion of his omnipotence had collapsed in less than three minutes.
"You ruined her," Sterling whispered, his eyes dark with a sudden, vicious hatred as he looked at Samuel. "She was twenty-four years old. She had a future."
"She ruined herself the moment she decided that a human life was worth less than a clean pair of shoes," Samuel replied coldly, remembering the water splashing across his dirty boots while a dying man asked for a drink. "You taught her that cruelty was a luxury reserved for the powerful. I just showed her the bill."
Two security officers entered the boardroom, stepping up to Sterling’s chair.
Sterling stood up slowly, adjusting his tie with trembling hands. He looked at Ethan—the young man he had tried to manipulate for three years—and saw zero mercy in his eyes.
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"You won't survive the market crash tomorrow, Ethan," Sterling spat as the guards took his arms. "Without our capital, Vance Financial drops forty percent by noon."
"We already shorted your stock, Richard," Ethan said quietly, turning his back on the disgraced executive. "We're going to buy your entire company for a dollar at the liquidation auction."
