Chapter 2 No Mercy

The air itself nearly froze over as soon as those words fell from Zack's lips.

Joseph stared at the insolvency and restructuring files on the coffee table, the veins on his neck throbbing at the slight. "Don't push it, Zack. Sawyer Group is worth 100 billion. You don't have enough capital for it."

Zack leaned into the back of the couch and fiddled with his thumb ring. "That was yesterday."

Then, he looked at Joseph sharply. "The three Southeast Amarian deepwater ports you invested in have halted their construction this morning, and all accounts have been frozen. The good assets you mortgaged to the overseas conglomerate are now bad debt."

He spoke slowly, but every word landed like a thunderclap. "I've looked into your accounts. You don't have enough money to pay your workers' salaries next month."

Irene went white. All her experience in venture capital, the thing she was so proud of, had just been destroyed.

She pointed at him, her voice shaking with rage. "It was you? You worked with foreign capital and drained our cash flow!"

He didn't deny it. Instead, he only laughed harder at her reaction. "Business is war, Ms. Sawyer. Nothing is too underhanded as long as it gets the job done. Your family has been at Imperia's top for too long. It's time for someone else to take your place."

He leaned forward and clasped his hands over his knees. "All your debt collectors are under my control. One call is all it takes for all the banks to band together and start liquidating your assets tomorrow. You'll lose everything and be saddled with debt instead."

Zack looked at the ashen Philip, sounding like he was showing pity as he spoke. "Give up, and perhaps I can show you mercy."

Philip started hacking so violently that it sounded like his lungs might fly out of his mouth. Joseph hurried over and patted his back. Irene turned around and wiped her tears. However, I was mulling Zack's words over.

Honestly, he truly couldn't have pulled the plug at a more perfect moment.

He'd forced a multibillion-dollar empire to the verge of collapse through an information gap and a buffer from international investors.

I was still deep in my thoughts when Jonathan suddenly jerked to his feet.

He shielded me from Zack's eyes. "Don't look at Felicia like that." He glared at Zack, and his voice was filled with anger. That didn't happen a lot.

Zack blinked dumbly before bursting into laughter. "You're sitting on a sinking ship, and you're still protecting your little plaything?"

He stood up and approached Jonathan, sizing him up. "Everyone in Imperia's elite circle knows you're just a wastrel of a son who wastes his family's money, and this Felicia woman is just a plaything whose greed could never be satisfied."

Zack then turned his eyes to me. There was disdain and scorn in his gaze. "Aren't you a gold digger, Ms. Shaw? This family's going bust soon. Shouldn't you be hightailing it right about now? Why are you still here?"

"You overstep your boundaries, Mr. Hempson," I said calmly, a smile curling my lips. "I'm not leaving just yet. Jonathan still hasn't given me this month's allowance. He should compensate me for my time if we're breaking up. After all, that's what a man should do."

Irene shook with rage as she spat, "I told you she's a good-for-nothing who only cares about money! She still wants to sink her teeth into our dying flesh even after knowing our predicament!"

Jonathan's eyes had turned bloodshot in his panic, but he still continued to defend me, saying, "Don't yell at her, guys. I haven't given her enough, that's all…"

Zack sneered. "I'm not here to watch your family drama." He turned to Philip, his patience gone. "My time is precious, Mr. Philip. You have one hour. If you refuse to admit defeat, then you can wait for the authorities to liquidate your assets."

He sat back down and closed his eyes. The mansion fell into dead silence again, save for the ticking of the antique clock on the wall. Every click of the needle felt like it was bringing the Sawyers closer to their doom.