Chapter 6 - The Shadows Behind the Boardroom
The federal indictment of Dr. Julian Halloran was only the tip of a much deeper, more subterranean iceberg. While the media feasted on the sensational details of medical tampering and corporate espionage, the real war was being fought inside the high-security conference rooms of downtown Manhattan.
Three weeks after the raid on my estate, I sat at the head of the obsidian conference table on the forty-fifth floor of Rossi Global Enterprises.
Marcus Webb, now acting as both my personal counsel and special federal liaison, tossed a heavy stack of encrypted financial records onto the table.
"Halloran wasn't acting alone, Lorenzo," Marcus said, pulling off his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "The shell company that funded the neonatal research lab in Geneva—and financed the syndicate members inside your own household—traces back directly to a holding conglomerate called Meridian Holdings."
I didn't blink. "Meridian. Isn't that chaired by Victor Vance?"
"Not just Victor Vance," Marcus corrected grimly. "His entire board consists of former senior partners who were ousted from your father’s shipping empire thirty years ago. They didn't just want to control your estate trusts; they wanted to systematically dismantle the Rossi name from the inside out. The car bomb that killed Sophia wasn't a random hit by street thugs. It was a calibrated hit designed to create an institutional vacuum."
A cold, lethal fury settled deep into my bones. For months, I had blamed a faceless underworld. But this was corporate warfare waged by men wearing tailored suits and smiling across boardrooms.
"How much liquidity do they have tied up in our domestic supply chains?" I asked, my voice dangerously calm.
"Roughly four hundred million in leveraged assets," Marcus replied. "If you trigger a hostile buyout of their primary subsidiaries right now, you'll destabilize their entire portfolio. But it will cost you a significant portion of your own liquid capital."
I stood up, walking over to the floor-to-ceiling glass windows that overlooked the bustling New York harbor. Down below, container ships bearing the Rossi insignia cut through the gray water.
"Money is just paper, Marcus," I said quietly. "They tried to take my son. They took my wife. I’m going to strip them down to their bare skin and leave them with nothing."
May you like
"Just remember," Marcus warned softly. "When you go after Meridian, you're stepping into federal antitrust territory. The DOJ will watch every move you make."
"Let them watch," I answered. "I have all the evidence I need right here."
