Chapter 4

Victor sat in his wheelchair as Monica, dressed in a couture gown, wheeled him into the banquet hall. Brandon walked beside them in a crisp tailored suit, looking like he already owned the place.

I followed behind in a plain black suit, quiet and unremarkable. Anyone who did not know better would have mistaken me for a bodyguard.

Victor basked in the attention as Monica pushed him to center stage. He picked up the microphone.

"Thank you all for coming tonight to celebrate with me. As most of you know, I had a bit of an accident recently and lost both my legs. God played a cruel joke on me, but he's been generous in other ways."

He looked at Brandon, his voice booming with pride.

"I have an extraordinary son, Brandon Carrington.

"Over these past few months, every one of you has seen what Brandon has accomplished at the company. He secured the multibillion-dollar south side development and has shown exceptional leadership across the board.

"Tonight, I would like to take this opportunity to make a formal announcement."

He paused, letting his gaze sweep the room before landing on me with something close to a taunt.

"I will be transferring my personal 15% stake in the company to Brandon. Effective immediately, Brandon will serve as CEO of the Carrington Group, with full authority to act on my behalf as chairman."

The room erupted. Every pair of eyes in the hall bounced between me and Brandon. The message was impossible to miss. Victor was publicly crowning his illegitimate son.

Brandon's face flushed with excitement as he stepped forward and took the microphone. "Thank you for your trust, Dad. I swear I will take the Carrington Group to greater heights than ever before."

He turned to me with a smirk he did not even try to hide. "Arthur, I'm sure you'll be a team player. I'm counting on your support at the office."

"Arthur." Victor's voice cut through the applause, cold and flat.

"Get up here. Hand over your VP seal and congratulate your brother."

I looked at the two of them up on that stage, so sure of themselves, and I smiled.

I walked up and stopped in front of Victor's wheelchair.

"I brought the seal, Dad."

I reached into my jacket, pulled out a thick stack of documents, and dropped them square against Brandon's chest.

"But I'm not here to hand anything over. These are share transfer papers."

Brandon caught the documents on reflex. He looked down, and the color drained from his face in an instant.

"What... what did you do?"

Victor's brow furrowed and he snapped at me. "Arthur! What the hell is this? This is not the time or the place for your games!"

"Games?"

I took the microphone from Brandon's hand. "I came here tonight to inform everyone of something.

"As of yesterday afternoon, I have completed a full acquisition of all outstanding minority shares in the Carrington Group.

"In addition, the five major shareholders have transferred their entire holdings to me.

"My personal stake now stands at 67%. That's an absolute controlling majority."

The room exploded.

Victor's eyes went wide and his hands clamped down on the armrests of his wheelchair. "That's impossible! There is no way those old b*stards sold their shares to you! Where would you even get that kind of money?"

"That's no longer something the former chairman needs to worry about."

I looked down at him without a trace of warmth. "Just moments ago, the board passed an emergency resolution."

I snapped my fingers, and the company's head of legal stepped forward with an official document stamped with the corporate seal. He read it aloud to the room.

"By resolution of the board of directors, Mr. Victor Carrington, whose holdings have fallen below 50%, is hereby removed from the position of chairman, effective immediately."