Chapter 7 - The Counter-Attack
I didn't return to the shadows. Instead, I made a public appearance three days after my discharge. I stood on the steps of the Thornecroft headquarters, my son held firmly in a carrier against my chest. The press—the same vultures who had watched me cry at the funeral—were now silent, waiting for my words.
I didn't speak of grief. I spoke of law, of justice, and of the future.
"Julian Thornecroft was a man of integrity," I told the cameras, my voice steady and cold. "He was murdered because he stood in the way of those who saw human beings as commodities. Today, I am exercising my rights as the sole trustee of the Thornecroft estate. Every board member who was complicit in the cover-up is hereby terminated, effective immediately."
The fallout was instantaneous. By noon, the stock price plummeted as I liquidated the divisions involved in the trafficking ring. By evening, I had replaced the entire upper management with people Julian had hand-picked in his journals—people who had been sidelined or fired by Genevieve for being too 'honest.'
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I walked into the boardroom, the doors swinging open to reveal the remaining conspirators. Genevieve sat at the head of the table, her face drawn, her eyes bloodshot. She looked at me, then at the baby, and for the first time, she truly understood. She hadn't just lost the money; she had lost the game to a woman she had deemed beneath her.
"Leave," I said, pointing to the door. "Or I will ensure the police escort you out in handcuffs."
