Chapter 1

“Henry, it’s just a USB drive. Is it necessary to make such a big deal out of it?”

Charles Peay stood at the head of the conference table, one hand still resting beside the USB drive.

I leaned back in my chair without reaching for it. “A USB drive containing the final bid for a ten-billion-dollar project? I’d say it absolutely warrants this.”

The conference room fell silent.

There were only two hours left before the bidding deadline.

Charles gave a short laugh and shrugged as though it were no big deal. “Fair enough. If we follow protocol, it’ll make things easier for everyone.”

I had my secretary start recording, then I summoned the personnel overseeing the project for Peay Corporation, the project attorney, and the counsel from Grant Corporation.

They checked the USB’s serial number and confirmed that the files had not been replaced.

“Since you were the one who brought it, you can seal it yourself.”

Charles glanced at me before picking up the evidence bag.

In full view of everyone, he placed the USB inside, sealed the bag, and signed his name across the seal. The legal team then locked the evidence inside a safe.

The safe required two separate keys, one held by the Peay family and the other by the Grant family. Without both, it could not be opened.

Just before the safe was locked, Charles suddenly turned around. “If anything goes wrong, don’t expect anyone to pull the brother card.”

The words sounded fair enough. However, I knew exactly what he was doing. He was laying the groundwork to convict me in advance.

Even if I refused to take the USB, the project would still go wrong.

At 5:40 pm, the bidding specialist completed the upload under continuous surveillance, then resealed the USB and returned it to storage.

The moment the records finished syncing, my phone vibrated. It was a message from Elizabeth Grant. She was the person in charge of the project on Grant Corporation's side and my fiancée.

[You handled that correctly.]

She did not ask any questions. However, she understood why I insisted on doing things this way.

Charles stood by the door, lightly tapping his fingers against the frame. “Henry, have you been a little too tense lately?”

I replied, “Isn’t it better to be cautious for a ten-billion-dollar project?”

He did not press the matter.

Issac Peay, my adoptive father, called me at 11:00 pm that night.

“Come to the office now.”

When I reached the conference room on the top floor, the final bid from Stark Corporation was frozen on the giant screen. It was 10,000 dollars higher than ours.

Months of negotiations and financing arrangements had been rendered worthless overnight.

More importantly, the acquisition had been the final test in the board’s evaluation of the next heir.

Dad slammed the documents onto the table. “How did Stark Corporation know our maximum bid?”

Charles was the first to stand. “I was responsible for the USB drive. I’ll take responsibility for that.”

Sure enough, the expressions on the directors’ faces softened.

The next second, Charles turned toward me. “But before it was sealed, Henry went to the project area.”