While the orchestra played a Strauss waltz, Arthur Sterling cornered William in the library adjacent to the ballroom. It was quiet here, the heavy oak doors muffling the sounds of the celebration.
Arthur placed a single document on the antique desk: a letter of resignation.
“It is time, William,” Arthur said, his voice smooth and cold. “The press is waiting outside. You will announce that you are stepping down to focus on your family. I will announce a friendly acquisition of Croft Enterprises at market value.”
William looked at the paper, then at the man who had tormented his family for decades. “And if I refuse?”
“Then I release the file on your father,” Arthur said, tapping the breast pocket of his tuxedo. “The embezzlement. The drugs. The cover-up. I will destroy the memory of Richard Croft, and I will make sure everyone knows his son is cut from the same rotten cloth.”
William tightened his hands into fists. The threat was potent; protecting his father’s legacy had been his driving motivation for years. But tonight, he wasn’t just a son protecting a ghost. He was a father protecting a future.
“My father made mistakes,” William said, his voice shaking slightly. “But he didn’t build an empire on blackmail.”
“Principles don’t save companies, William,” Arthur sneered. “Leverage does. And I have all of it.”