Chapter 281: An All-time Low

Trish grabbed a pancake sitting in front of her and shoved half of it into her mouth in one bite. She chewed furiously, glaring down at the table.

’It’s all Rachel’s fault. She had to wake me up in the middle of the best part.’

"What happened already?" Luca asked, clearly amused.

Trish froze. "Nothing."

"What happened?"

"Uh..." She coughed twice and quickly reached for her milk. "It’s nothing. Seriously."

She lowered her head and drank, hoping he’d drop it. There was no way she could tell him what she’d been dreaming about.

In the dream, Luca had pushed Rachel onto the sofa, and the two of them had been inches away from kissing. She’d been so close to seeing what happened next. Then Rachel just had to drag her out of the dream.

Trish still hadn’t forgiven her for it.

Luca watched her for a moment, noticing the way her expression kept changing.

’Is she having one of those dreams?’ He almost laughed.

Trish was getting older. She’d be heading to college soon, and it was perfectly normal for her to start thinking about dating.

Still, as her older brother, Luca had already decided that whoever eventually became her boyfriend would have to pass a very thorough inspection. He wasn’t about to let some idiot mistreat his little sister. The thought alone made him smile.

...

Over the next few days, Luca’s life settled into an almost suspicious level of calm. He occasionally went out to meet Phil Hernandez or deal with one of the company’s executives, but otherwise, he stayed home. He didn’t appear particularly bothered by his falling-out with Vincent. If anything, he looked like a man enjoying a vacation.

Trish eventually couldn’t take it anymore. "You’re seriously not doing anything?"

Luca glanced at her from the sofa. "Should I be?"

"You’re the one who started a war with a major family."

"I wouldn’t call it a war."

"You cut off their business relationships, threatened their investments, and publicly embarrassed them."

Luca shrugged. "Sounds like a Tuesday."

Trish stared at him. "You’re ridiculously lazy."

Luca ignored her. And since he wasn’t making another move, Vincent wasn’t about to make one either. In fact, Vincent was perfectly happy with the current stalemate. The problem was that Luca had revealed far too many cards.

Northstar Real Estate. Summit Capital. Hale-Viv Conglomerate in New Orleans. And now there was Hernandez Finances.

Vincent had recently learned that Luca had also acted as the intermediary between Harvey Adams and Phil Hernandez. The two sides were apparently interested in working together. That information alone was enough to make Vincent’s stomach tighten.

He knew exactly what the Adams family represented. If the Adams family decided to stand beside Luca because of this incident, Maison Premier would be exposed from every direction.

At that point, Luca wouldn’t even need to destroy them himself. He could simply wait for the pressure to build. And Maison Premier would collapse under it.

...

"Vincent, don’t even think about trying to shift the blame!"

The furious voice echoed through the president’s office of Maison Premier.

"This entire mess happened because of your useless brother!"

Several members of the family were gathered around the conference table, their tempers running high.

"If it were only the Windsor and Halloway families, we could deal with it."

"Exactly. Even if things turned ugly, we could survive."

"But Northstar is involved now."

"And Summit Capital!"

Another elder slammed his palm against the table.

"Don’t forget Hale-Viv. That’s another company under Luca’s control!"

The room fell silent for a moment. Each of those companies would have been troublesome to deal with individually. Together, they represented a threat Maison Premier couldn’t simply ignore.

"You’ve pushed this family into a corner, Vincent."

Vincent sat quietly at the head of the table. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone had spoken to him like this. Then again, these weren’t ordinary employees or business partners. They were family.

Uncles. Aunts. Cousins. Senior members who had been involved in Maison Premier long before he took over. Most of the time, they were content to let him handle the company’s affairs. As long as the profits kept coming, nobody complained. But when something threatened their interests, they suddenly remembered that they had a voice.

Vincent had inherited the largest block of shares from his father, but the people sitting around him collectively controlled an even larger portion. He couldn’t simply dismiss them. So he endured the accusations in silence.

At first.

Then the insults became increasingly personal.

Finally, Vincent’s patience snapped.

His hand slammed against the table.

"Enough!"

The shout shook the room.

Everyone went quiet.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Then one of the older men, a broad-shouldered man who looked to be around sixty, broke the silence.

"Vincent, we know you’re capable. We know you’re ambitious. But your brother has crossed the line this time."

His voice was calmer now, but there was no sympathy in it.

"I think you should send him abroad."

Several people nodded.

"Get him out of Capital City before he causes another disaster."

Nobody in the room knew the full truth about Luca’s relationship with Hernandez Finances.

As far as they were concerned, Maison Premier had simply lost its opportunity to secure investment because Jack had offended Phil Hernandez. That was the only explanation that made sense to them.

If not for that incident, they wouldn’t have been nearly as concerned about confronting Luca.

After all, how many times had Jack gotten into trouble before?

The family had always cleaned up after him.

They had spent years telling themselves that he was simply reckless.

That he was young.

That he would eventually grow out of it.

But the truth was far uglier.

Jack had been a problem since school.

He had bullied other students, sometimes so badly that they were afraid to return to class. Whenever their parents complained, Maison Premier used its influence to make the problem disappear.

One girl had suffered severe depression after years of harassment from him.

Eventually, she attempted suicide by jumping from a building.

She survived, but was left permanently disabled and would spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair.

The incident had caused a major uproar at the time.

Maison Premier had made sure it didn’t last.

They compensated the girl’s family, threatened them into silence, and eventually forced them to leave Capital City.

The people now condemning Jack had been the same people who handled that cleanup. They had all played their part. Back then, nobody had called him a monster. Nobody had demanded that he be punished. They had simply protected the family name.

Now, with Luca standing on the other side, they were suddenly eager to distance themselves from him.

Vincent looked around the table. For the first time, he felt genuinely tired. Not angry. Not even frustrated. Just tired.

After a long silence, he finally stood.

"Everyone."

He lowered his head.

"I’ll handle Luca. I’ll find a way to settle this properly."

Nobody interrupted.

"And I’ll ask you to give Jack one more chance."

His voice became quieter.

"From today onward, I’ll personally keep him under control. If he causes another serious incident, you won’t have to come looking for me."

He raised his head.

"I’ll send him abroad myself."

No one answered immediately. Jack was still his younger brother. No matter how troublesome he was, Vincent couldn’t simply abandon him. He had practically raised Jack himself.

Their father had been busy with the company, their mother had rarely involved herself in discipline, and Vincent had been the one who tried to keep his younger brother in line.

Jack had always been difficult. But he was still family.

The room remained silent.

Eventually, the same elderly man sighed.

"Fine."

He exchanged glances with the others before continuing.

"We’ll give you one last chance."

His expression hardened.

"Don’t make us regret it."

One by one, the others left.

Once the door finally closed behind them, Vincent sank into the sofa.

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

The situation was becoming increasingly difficult to control. Problems were piling up both inside and outside the family. At least the elders hadn’t completely turned against him. For now, the issue surrounding Jack was still manageable.

Then his phone rang.

Vincent opened his eyes.

The caller ID made him frown.

"The butler?"

That was strange.

If there was a family matter, Stephanie could usually handle it. If it was something more serious, his parents would have contacted him directly.

Why was the butler calling?

He answered.

"Hello?"

"Sir..."

The butler’s voice was trembling.

Vincent immediately sat upright.

"What happened?"

There was a brief silence on the other end.

Then the butler spoke again.

"Madam... Madam is missing."

Vincent’s expression changed.

"Stephanie?"

"Yes, sir."

"What do you mean she’s missing?"

"We can’t find her anywhere."

"Did she leave a message? Anything at all?"

"No."

Vincent’s brow furrowed.

He and Stephanie had been barely speaking since their last argument.

They were practically living in the same house as strangers.

But she wouldn’t simply disappear.

Would she?

"Why would she leave?"

The butler hesitated.

"It’s... it’s because of Jack, Sir."

Vincent’s heart sank.

"Jack?"

His voice rose several levels.

"What did he do?"

The butler swallowed audibly.

"He... he bullied Madam, and..."

"Impossible!"

Vincent shot to his feet.