Chapter 41: Victor's Weakness Exposed

Consequences had been rapid and brutal. Once admired by elites and despised by rivals, Victor Pierce's empire was disintegrating. Public disgust of his illicit activities had turned even his closest friends into wary adversaries, each one staring at an exit path as the once-strong Pierce Corp teetered on the brink of collapse.

From a safe office downtown, Aidan watched it all: the glow of multiple screens lighting up his face as he scrutinized every headline, every shift in the stock market, every severe report evaluating his uncle's life and crimes. Aidan observed a slipping of the empire from Victor's hands with every announcement of a resignation letter or investor pullout. Years of waiting for this were suddenly happening faster than he had even dreamed about.

Marcus grumbled from across the room, surfing emails on his laptop. Reading from one of Victor's most devoted friends, he smiled. "They are pulling their money and labeling it as 'an irrepressible moral difference.'" Marcus gave a subdued chuckle. "That's kind of polite way of saying they don't want to be burned along with him."

Aidan allowed himself smile just little. "Good" We just needed this kind of fracture exactly. To save their own skins, they are jumping ship exactly in time.

He turned back, savoring the moment. Every email and every missing commercial link provided proof of his waning authority. The board members were scuttling like cockroaches from the sinking ship before Victor's corruption brought them down as well. Aidan knew, though, that seeing Pierce Corp. fall apart would not be enough. He had to make sure Victor couldn climb back to the top. For that he needed every skeleton from his uncle's wardrobe.

Just then Dominic entered the room looking as though he had just hit gold and clutching a tablet in one hand. "You're gonna want to see this," he said, his voice almost audible with his excitement. " One of the board members just now gave me a call. They are prepared to expose everything, including Victor's own company, offshore accounts, every suspicious transaction buried over years.

Aidan's smile widened and his eyes riveted the screen as he seized the iPad from Dominic. Emails, account numbers, private contracts, and other document files combined together amply demonstrated Victor's corruption. This ammo he could use to turn even more of Victor's buddies against him while boxing his uncle deeper into a corner.

Aidan said, still in reading, "Unbelievable." He thought himself to be untouchable.

Marcus observed the stock price, which had dropped some more, laughing cruelly from his seat while his fingers still hammered at the computer. "Well, he seems catching up with reality. These are cruel; loyalty lasts for as long as the money arrives.

Aidan nodded, still fixated on the statistics Dominic had sent. Not to Victor, but rather to his authority, they were loyal. Given that it is failing, they are rather ready to turn on him now.

Searching the files all day, Dominic and Marcus each piece of evidence more damning than the next. They had gathered enough by nightfall to destroy several of Victor's biggest businesses, each a masterful front for his illegal activity. Aidan began calling former employees, close friends from his father's business days, each more than happy to help Pierce Corp return to its proper origins.

Before the day was up, Aidan had destroyed three of Victor's most successful businesses; each one passed over to close pals who would assist in undoing what his uncle had done. As the city lights turned on outside the office window, Aidan experienced tremendous happiness. This was justice, not only pay-back.

But as he was about close his laptop, an email from an unknown account showed up on his screen. That was brief—one sentence: "I know what you're doing. You will be sorry about this.

Fixing on the message, Aidan trembled along his spine. But he quickly squashed the feeling, his jaw closing. He just grinned and said in his head: Not quite as much as you will, Uncle.

Early the next morning, Aidan arrived at the office with Marcus and Dominic already hard at work sorting through even more letters from Victor's old allies, each one a neatly created distance from the issue. He took his spot at the conference table, where practically every inch of covered encrypted data, stock reports, and news articles.

"What's the most recently occurring?" Aidan questioned and sipped his coffee while he perused the new documents.

Marcus glanced from his laptop, his face stern. Victor's lawyer sent a note this morning trying to minimize the charges as "overblown." They claim it is all part of a rivals-run slander campaign.

Dominique shook his head and squatted. "Common." People also are not buying it. The controversy is now far too big and people are seeing through the excuses.

Aidan looked at the Marcus laptop headlines from back on his chair. "Pierce Corp Empire on Brink of Collapse as Allegations Mount" and "Board Members Feathered as New Evidence of Corruption Surprises". He knew the damage done regardless of what Victor's lawyer said. People watched a guy furiously clinging to a failing firm, one controversy away from losing everything, not the unassailable CEO Victor had previously shown himself to be.

"We have to push harder," Aidan said, his voice cold. "Desperate guys behave carelessly; Victor is desperate. We have to see to it he cannot recover from this.

Marcus nodded and opened still another paper. "We have lots of leverage today. On the offshore accounts, he was passing money through shell companies all throughout the world, paying lobbyists, signing deals with criminal groups,

Aidan lifted an eyebrow. "He really felt none would find out?"

Dominic opened up on his laptop a map showing the transaction network and stated, "Looks like it." But we are ready to make sure the earth knows exactly what he has been doing.

Over the following few hours, the crew painstakingly assembled the evidence, organized files, and contacted significant media sites getting ready for their last move. The plan was simple but horrible: disclose every item of information they had gathered, therefore flooding the media with a constant flow of revelations that would expose Victor without cover. By the time they were done, Victor Pierce would be a household name but not for the reasons he had always wanted.

As the day progressed, Aidan felt a familiar drive engulfing him. Left behind by his father, this was the legacy Victor had turned warped and destroyed for his own advantage. Recovering it was not only personal but also a duty he couldn ignore. Years of preparation were at last seeing things come together now.

But Aidan's phone buzzed with a warning as they were about forward the remaining papers to their contacts. He looked down, his brow wrinkled to decipher the message:

"You are playing a dangerous game, Aidan. Watch the individual you rely on cautiously.

Aidan knew exactly who had turned in the unsigned note. Victory is The comments sounded as direct challenges, a reminder that his uncle wasn't yet out of commission. Aidan felt chilled down his spine but his mouth set in resolve. Victor was terribly mistaken if he thought a few words might scare him off.

Aidan tucked his phone, his mind racing with backup plans already. Feeling the conflict, he looked to Marcus and Dominic, both of which were watching him.

Aidan's voice firm, "victor knows we're closing in." Nor will he be going down silently.

Marcus nodded and grimly stared at Dominic. Then we should be ready for whatever he tosses our way.

Aidan thought as they worked on the release calendar that this was the starting point. Victor might be encircled even though he was still lethal and capable of rebuffing with all he had. Aidan clenched his fingers on his phone, and he will get cold. He would stop independent of the expenses.