Chapter 3 The Day of Reckoning

More than 200,000 comments had piled up, most of them cursing me.

I had barely put down my phone when a notice from the administration popped up. "An emergency shareholders' meeting will be held in ten minutes."

I grabbed a jacket and headed for the conference room.

The moment I pushed open the door, more than 20 shareholders turned to stare at me, every face gloomier than the last.

Leo Parker, the second-largest shareholder, threw the $300-million partnership offer Evercore Technology had previously sent us right in front of me.

"Daniel, you fucking idiot! You had $300 million sitting right in front of you, and instead of taking it, you pissed off Professor Morgan from Ashford University and screwed up every single university partnership we had!

"Either you sign this contract right now and apologize to Professor Morgan, or all of us shareholders will remove you as CEO!"

The others immediately joined in. Some slammed their hands against the table while others hurled insults. The conference room descended into chaos.

I stared at the crumpled contract at my feet. Then I bent down, picked it up, and tore it to pieces right in front of all the shareholders.

The scraps fluttered across Leo's face.

I looked at his twisted expression, my voice cold as ice. "Even if Starcrest Group goes into bankruptcy and liquidation, I will never work with Evercore Technology."

Leo froze for three seconds before exploding. "Fine! We'll start the removal process right now!"

The moment he finished speaking, my assistant came rushing through the door, clutching an overnight express envelope.

"Mr. Morgan, the investors' official withdrawal notice is here! They're demanding that we repay $200 million within three days, plus $30 million in penalties! The bank has already withdrawn all our available cash. We can't even make next month's payroll!"

The conference room fell silent.

The seven executives sitting in the front row exchanged glances. One by one, they placed their resignation letters on the conference table in front of me.

"Mr. Morgan, I'm sorry. We still have mortgages to pay and kids to support. We can't afford to stick around."

"You offended Professor Morgan. There's no future for us if we stay with you."

…

In less than ten minutes, the conference room was completely empty. I was the only one left, sitting in the chair at the head of the table.

The door opened softly. My dad stood in the doorway, carrying a stainless-steel insulated food container.

He was wearing an old blue work uniform that had been washed so many times the color had faded. The old scar on his forehead—the one he'd gotten years ago when he fell trying to scrape together my college tuition—was especially visible in the sunlight.

The moment he saw me in such a miserable state, the smile on his face froze.

He set the container on my desk and opened the lid. Inside was my favorite glazed pork belly, still steaming.

He took my ice-cold hand in his. The calluses on his rough palms rubbed painfully into my wrist as his voice trembled. "You haven't eaten yet, have you? I made you some pork. It's still warm. Eat something…"

His voice grew hoarse. "Danny…"

He looked at me and let out a long sigh. "Danny, we can't beat them. I tried once before. It didn't work. They have money and influence. We just have to accept it. I don't expect anything anymore. I just want you to be safe…"

He lowered his head, his shoulders slumped.

It was the exhaustion and despair of a man who had spent decades crushed beneath the weight of life, until every bit of his hope and fighting spirit had been worn away.

It wasn't that he didn't want to fight.

He'd simply paid the price once before, and it had hurt too much. Too much for him to let me pay it a second time.

I looked at his graying hair, his back no longer as straight as it once was, the ingrained grime on his hands that no amount of washing could remove, and the scar at his temple that he'd gotten because of me.

He'd hauled bags of cement at a construction site in 104-degree heat just because I'd casually mentioned that I wanted to study computer science.

He'd hit his head so badly that he needed 12 stitches, yet he'd smiled and told me, "It doesn't hurt. Now you've got your tuition."

All the suffering, humiliation, and injustice he'd endured his entire life came from those two thieves, who had stolen his life away as if it were nothing.

How could I possibly let it go?

I stood and opened the safe behind me, pulling out the brown envelope I'd kept locked away for ten years.

I shoved it into my dad's hands, gripping them so tightly my fingertips went numb.

My voice was as firm as stone. "Dad, I've been preparing for ten years, just waiting for this day. This time, I'm going to make them pay back everything they owe you—with interest."