Chapter 9
I flew home immediately.
I didn't tell anyone what Vanessa had told me.
Not yet.
I needed proof.
I needed to be sure.
And I needed a plan.
Frank had been my friend for twenty years.
He knew everything about me.
About my business.
About my family.
About my security.
He was dangerous.
Very dangerous.
And I had to be careful.
Very careful.
I hired Marcus.
Officially this time.
To investigate Frank.
To find proof of what he'd done.
Of what he was planning.
And to help me stop him.
Without him knowing.
Marcus worked quickly.
Quietly.
He found everything.
Bank records.
Emails.
Phone calls.
Meetings.
Frank had been embezzling from my company for years.
Millions of dollars.
He'd been selling company secrets.
To competitors.
To foreign governments.
To anyone who would pay.
And he'd been planning a takeover.
A hostile takeover of my company.
Using the money he'd stolen.
Using the secrets he'd gathered.
Using the trust I'd given him.
He was going to announce it at the next board meeting.
In two weeks.
He thought I was too old.
Too distracted by my family.
Too weak to fight back.
He thought he'd win.
Easily.
He was wrong.
I built this company.
From nothing.
With my bare hands.
And I wasn't going to let some traitor take it from me.
Not without a fight.
I started building my case.
Gathering my evidence.
Talking to the board members I trusted.
Building my support.
Preparing my defense.
And my counterattack.
Frank had no idea what was coming.
He thought he was dealing with the old Sylvester Stallone.
The grieving widower.
The distracted father.
The aging actor.
He was wrong.
He was dealing with the man who'd climbed out of the gutter.
Who'd built an empire.
Who'd fought his way back from the dead.
Who'd found five stolen children and brought them home.
I was stronger than he knew.
And I was going to destroy him.
The board meeting came.
Frank was confident.
Smug.
Sure of himself.
He started his presentation.
His takeover bid.
His lies about my leadership.
About the company's decline.
About his vision for the future.
He talked for twenty minutes.
And then he stopped.
And looked at me.
Waiting for my response.
Expecting me to be angry.
Defeated.
I smiled.
And I stood up.
"Thank you, Frank," I said. "That was a very… creative presentation. Full of lies. Half-truths. And delusions of grandeur."
Frank's face fell.
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about your embezzlement," I said. "The $47 million you've stolen from this company over the past five years. I'm talking about the corporate secrets you've sold to our competitors. The ones that have cost us millions in lost contracts. I'm talking about your partnership with Vanessa. How you helped her sabotage my plane. How you helped her steal my children. How you planned to take over this company while I was presumed dead."
The room erupted.
The board members were shocked.
Angry.
Frank turned white.
"That's… that's absurd! You have no proof!"
I nodded to Marcus.
He stood up.
And he started playing the recordings.
Frank's voice.
Talking to Vanessa.
Planning the plane crash.
Talking about stealing the children.
Talking about taking over the company.
Then the emails.
The bank records.
The photographs of Frank meeting with competitors.
Everything.
Irrefutable.
Undeniable.
Frank collapsed into his chair.
Defeated.
The board voted unanimously.
To fire Frank immediately.
To press criminal charges.
To recover every penny he'd stolen.
And to reaffirm their confidence in me.
As CEO.
As the founder.
As the heart of this company.
Frank was arrested as he left the building.
Charged with fraud.
Conspiracy.
Corporate espionage.
Accessory to attempted murder.
And more.
He was going to prison for a very long time.
Right beside Vanessa.
Where he belonged.
I stood in the boardroom.
Alone.
After everyone had left.
I looked out the window.
At the city I'd helped build.
At the empire I'd created.
And I felt at peace.
Frank was gone.
Vanessa was gone.
All the enemies who'd tried to destroy me and my family were gone.
Forever.
I went home.
To my children.
To my family.
And I told them everything.
About Frank.
About Vanessa's confession.
About everything.
They were shocked.
Scared.
But also relieved.
That it was over.
That the danger was gone.
That we were finally safe.
Michael took it the hardest.
Learning that Frank had been the reason he'd been given away.
That he'd lost fifteen years with his family because of Frank's greed and jealousy.
But he was also strong.
Stronger than Frank would ever be.
He held my hand.
"We're together now," he said. "That's all that matters."
And he was right.
We were together.
All of us.
And nothing could ever take that away from us.
That summer, we had the biggest family reunion yet.
All six children.
James and Eleanor.
Frankie and her family.
All my friends.
Everyone who loved us.
Everyone who'd stood by us.
We celebrated.
Life.
Love.
Family.
Survival.
Victory.
We were happy.
Truly happy.
And for the first time in years.
I felt completely at peace.
The past was behind us.
The future was bright.
And nothing was ever going to hurt us again.
But life had one more gift for me.
One more miracle.
And it came in the form of a woman.
May you like
Someone I'd known a long time ago.
Someone who'd been waiting for me.
