"Who knows what kind of dirty tricks he pulled."
"Exactly. He's an absolute disgrace to Delgado Group."
"You... all of you..."
I stared at these people—the same ones who used to call me "bro" and hang on my every word—now turning on me just to suck up to the new director.
The betrayal was sickening.
Beverly issued her ultimatum. "Vincent, everyone here can see the truth plain as day."
"Sign this repayment agreement today, hand over the money, and I'll let you walk out of here."
"Refuse, and I call the police. You'll go to prison."
"Extortion and embezzlement. That goes on your permanent record. No company in this country will ever touch you again."
I looked around the office—this company I'd built up with my own two hands—and let out a cold laugh. "Great. You're all just great."
"I'm not paying back a single cent. Go ahead. Call the cops."
I snatched the agreement off the table, ripped it to shreds, and flung the pieces straight into Beverly's face. Then I turned and headed for the door.
I was done. With my gifts, I could make eight million dollars anywhere.
"Leaving? Not that easy." Dean's eyes turned venomous in an instant. He snapped his fingers, the sound sharp as a cracking whip.
Four or five hulking men rushed in and locked the door behind them.
I tried to force my way through. The moment I reached the door, the guards shoved me back with brutal force.
I stumbled and hit the ground hard. My forehead caught the sharp corner of the coffee table, and something warm immediately trickled down from my temple.
"Let me go!" I struggled to get up.
But Dean walked over and stood above me.
He pulled out his phone, unhurried, almost leisurely, and dialed a video call. Then he shoved the screen in my face.
"Recognize this place?"
One glance was all it took. Every drop of blood in my body went cold.
The video showed my grandmother's nursing home.
Inside the ICU, several men were shoving nurses aside. One of them already had his hand on the breathing tube—the tube keeping my grandmother alive.
She was unconscious, but her brow was deeply furrowed, as if she could feel some terrible pain even through the coma.
"Stop! Don't touch her!" I thrashed against the guards, but they pinned me to the floor.
"Dean, if you lay a finger on my grandmother, I'll kill you!"
A fist slammed into my face. Stars exploded behind my eyes.
"Shut your mouth, you worthless nobody." Dean grabbed a fistful of my hair and wrenched my head up, forcing me to watch the screen. "Here's something you didn't know. Yesterday, I used the money you earned to buy that nursing home."
"Your grandmother's life is in my hands now. One word from me, and they pull the plug."
On the screen, the hand actually switched off the ventilator.
My grandmother's body seized violently. The heart monitor shrieked, its alarm piercing through the phone's tiny speaker.
"No! No, stop!" I fought to hold back the tears, but every wall inside me had already crumbled.
"Please. Don't hurt her. I'll sign. Whatever you want me to sign, I'll do it."
Dean smiled, satisfied. He spoke into the phone: "Hold off for now."
Then he casually picked up a cup of dirty water that had been sitting beside the cleaning supplies and poured it onto the carpet in front of me.
"You want your grandma to live? Sure."
"See, in a modern, rational society, it's survival of the fittest. Nobody needs superstitious old deadweight like her."
He pointed at the puddle of filthy water on the floor. "But hey, I'm a generous guy."
"Get on your knees right now. Lick that clean. Then sign the papers. And maybe, out of the goodness of my heart, I'll let her live one more night."
The room went deathly silent.
