Chapter 8: The Offer
Victor Sterling arrived at Dominic’s office at 7:15 a.m. the next morning.
He didn’t ask for permission. He simply walked past the stunned receptionist and entered Dominic’s corner office like he owned the building.
Dominic was already there, sitting behind his desk with dark circles under his eyes. He hadn’t slept.
When he saw Victor, his expression hardened.
“You have some nerve showing up here,” Dominic said.
Victor closed the door behind him and sat down across from Dominic without being invited.
“I came to give you one chance,” Victor said calmly. “One single opportunity to walk away with something instead of nothing.”
Dominic let out a bitter laugh.
“You think you can just walk in here and threaten me? After what you’ve already done to my company?”
Victor didn’t react to the anger.
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” he said. “You’re going to sign over full custody of Sophia to Vivienne. You’re going to agree to a clean divorce with no claim on any Sterling assets. And you’re going to disappear from both of their lives permanently.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“And if I refuse?”
Victor leaned back in his chair, completely relaxed.
“Then I continue. By the end of the week, every major bank and investment firm in this country will know exactly how much money you stole. You’ll be facing multiple federal investigations. Your name will be dragged through every financial news outlet. And when that’s done, I’ll start on Elena Voss and your son.”
Dominic’s face went pale.
“You wouldn’t touch a child.”
Victor’s eyes were ice cold.
“I wouldn’t have to. All I have to do is make sure the world knows exactly who Lucas’s father is, and how much money you’ve been hiding from your legal wife to support your second family. Elena will lose everything. And you… you’ll lose what’s left of your reputation.”
Dominic was silent for a long time.
Then he spoke, his voice low.
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
Victor tilted his head slightly.
“No,” he said. “I’m not. But I’m very good at it.”
He stood up.
“You have until tomorrow night to decide,” Victor said. “After that, I stop being reasonable.”
He walked toward the door, then paused.
“One more thing,” he added without turning around. “If you try to contact Vivienne or Sophia again without going through me first, I will consider that a violation of our agreement. And I don’t respond well to violations.”
Then he left.
Dominic sat alone in his office, staring at the city skyline.
For the first time in his life, he had no moves left to make.
May you like
And he was starting to understand that the Sterling family didn’t just want to hurt him.
They wanted to erase him.
