Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 234281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1171(@200wpm)___ 937(@250wpm)___ 781(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 234281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1171(@200wpm)___ 937(@250wpm)___ 781(@300wpm)
“I don’t have time for your petty problems,” Yehor said, cutting her off.
“A potential merger that could make us a monopoly of the industry is not petty!”
Yehor’s temper snapped. “You’re right! It’s not petty when it should have been. I should have known you would be incapable of keeping your son in line. After all,” he added in disgust, “if you couldn’t do it with your husband—-”
“How dare you?” Esther screeched, never failing to feel livid whenever the topic of her deceased husband was introduced.
“I dare because we both know that your son has always been the real brains behind your company. Short-term gains were all you could bring, while your son has always been the one credited for Leventis’ long-term growth. You brought more profit by squeezing money out of your suppliers and employees, but that can only give you a paltry few millions at best.”
Esther’s fingers tightened around the receiver, her body shaking with mute rage. “If you don’t stop being rude, I swear—-”
“You swear what? You have already done your worst to your son, but he’s survived it. So what can you still do, Esther?” he jeered. Cursing the woman in his mind, he muttered almost to himself, “I should have known better than to trust you. If I hadn’t gotten myself embroiled in your stupid plans, I would have seen it coming. Someone is trying to take my company away—-” Yehor bit off the rest of his words, knowing he had already said too much.
But it was already too late.
“Who could take your company away from you?” Esther asked sharply, her question prompted not by concern over Yehor but more for his ability to keep his bargain with her.
“Forget I said anything,” Yehor said curtly and slammed the phone down.
But Esther could not forget, and the feeling of something bad persisted inside her. She was not a suspicious woman by nature. She relied only on facts and never on feelings, but she also knew she would be dumb to ignore what her instincts were telling her.
Someone knocked on her door, and before she could demand who it was, the door burst open, Cimon Onassis pushing past Esther’s harried-looking secretary.
A sick feeling formed in her stomach. Cimon Onassis was the president of the company’s accounting department as well as being the man she had bribed to doctor certain accounts so that everything would show in her favor and not Damen’s.
“Something’s come up,” Cimon said abruptly as he stopped in front of Esther Leventis’ desk.
“You can go,” Esther told her secretary sharply.
The moment the door closed behind Esther’s secretary, Cimon said, “We have a problem. My secretary has not come to work for over a week now.”
Esther scowled. “And this is my problem because?”
“—-she may have incriminating evidence against us,” Cimon finished flatly.
Esther whitened at the implications. If Cimon’s secretary ever went to Damen, it could be all over. “Find her. I don’t give a damn what you have to do, but you must find her and make sure she doesn’t speak. Permanently.”
Cimon’s eyes widened, realizing the meaning behind Esther’s words. “You can’t be serious—-”
“It’s either that or we both go down.”
Cimon stared at Esther for a long moment, waiting and wishing for her to change her mind and leaving only when it was obvious she wasn’t going to. This was too much, Cimon thought to himself, fear causing his hand to tremble as he pressed the button for the elevator at the executive floor to open its doors.
His gaze strayed to Damen Leventis’ office, which had been padlocked since the day he had been voted out by the board. Was a seat at the board worth risking his life? Was it worth risking Damen’s wrath on him when the latter found out what Cimon had done?
Alone in her office, Esther could feel an invisible noose around her neck tightening ever slowly, as if controlled by a cruelly taunting Damen. The thought made her hiss. “No!” Esther sent papers on her desk flying with an angry sweep of her hand.
Impossible, she told herself. None of this was the work of Damen. Her son might be more cunning than most, but he was also dirt poor right now. A man without the resources he had grown up with and been long used to.
Forcing herself to think methodically like she always did, Esther considered her steps, considered her nemesis, and came to a decision.
Thirty minutes later, she was seated in the backseat of her limousine, parked near the gates of Damen’s house. The property was the only one that the bank hadn’t been able to take away from her son. If only they had, Esther thought. Maybe he would be less proud and more inclined to surrender.
Per her orders, Esther’s chauffeur stepped out of the limousine and opened the door for her when he saw a cab come to a stop in front of the gate. His employer’s son and daughter-in-law stepped out.