Building The Strongest Family

Chapter 410: The Offer

The air in the glass-walled conference room was unnaturally quiet. The soft hum of the holographic screens broke the stillness, echoing like a nervous heartbeat. Outside, the ocean spread infinitely towards a dark, moonless horizon void of light, silent, and merciless.

Inside this charged atmosphere the ten most influential leaders in the pharmaceutical industry, their faces pale and drawn from recent shocking news.

In just a matter of minutes, their once-fortunate empires had crumbled. The systems they had once controlled so confidently were now reduced to mere ashes before them.

Then, unexpectedly, a hologram flickered to life.

Arthur Osborn appeared as a composed figure of shimmering silver light at the head of the table. His presence felt both chilling and steady as the faint blue hue of his projection cast an ethereal glow throughout the room.

He looked at everyone present and smiled.

"Hello everyone. We finally met face to face."

A heavy silence fell as no one dared to break it.Outside, the sound of waves crashing against the hull served as a reminder that life outside those walls carried on.

Finally, Darius Veyne shattered the stillness. His voice was quivering with barely suppressed rage. "Do you really think hiding behind a hologram makes you powerful?"

Arthur turned his gaze to him slowly, deliberately. "I don’t hide," he responded with a calmness that revealed no emotion. "I simply exist in a place where none of you can touch me."

Darius ground his teeth in frustration. "You think this stunt is meant to scare us? You’ve taken down systems, not people."

Arthur’s expression stayed unchanged as he held Darius’s gaze for just a moment longer before addressing everyone around the table. "Darius. Lira. Rook. Mira. Talis. Senna. Korin. Joran. Veyra. Draven."

He articulated each name with precision; each CEO flinched slightly at the sound of their name spoken aloud.

After a short pause, Arthur continued, "You’ve been quite active,launching cyber attacks, manipulating stock prices, leaking false information to sabotage my supply chains, even bribing my distributors behind closed doors."

Silence engulfed the room.

"You tried," he continued steadily, "to undermine something you didn’t comprehend. Your arrogance has blinded you."

He imperceptibly leaned forward, as if his hologram were invading their personal space.

"You watched a company thrive faster than you imagined possible, dismissing it as mere luck, theft, or manipulation,but it was none of those."

Arthur’s voice sharpened slightly; each word struck with precision. "Taking down VULTURE didn’t teach you any humility; ending GENEBANE didn’t offer you insight, you’re still here, thinking you’re invincible."

Lira Solmarr shot him a scornful look. "Don’t preach to us about insight! You’ve devastated markets and families! You think you’ve saved the world when all you’ve done is bring it to its knees!"

Slowly, Arthur focused his attention on her. "You talk about families while your company exploited orphans for genetic testing."

Lira went silent, her mouth moving wordlessly.

Turning to the others, Arthur stated, "You’ve all been guilty in one way or another. You marketed hope in bottles as you buried death in fine print."

He raised his hand, and holographic images burst into view around them.

Ten separate projections revealed a torrent of incriminating information: secret memos, black-market gene contracts, emails concealing side effects, patient death lists, falsified trial results, and financial transfers to government officials.

One by one, the ten CEOs watched as their darkest secrets illuminated the air around them.

The silence that followed was almost tangible.

"For decades," Arthur said quietly, "you’ve sold death disguised as hope. And when someone offered genuine life, you called it tyranny."

The lights from the projections flickered over his face. Though his tone remained steady, the gravity of his words filled the room.

Rook Kael tightened his fists. "We created this world. Without us, there would be no medicine, no cures,no advancement."

Arthur’s gaze shifted to him. "And without you? There would be no corruption, no synthetic diseases,no monopoly over life."

Rook shifted slightly in his chair, his voice firm. "You’re not any better than us."

Arthur fixed his gaze on him, unwavering. "I’m not better; I’m essential."

Rook paused, momentarily thrown off by the straightforwardness of that statement,it left him at a loss for words.

Arthur placed his hands behind his back and lowered his voice, ensuring that everyone in the room could hear him.

"Here’s my proposal."

An electric tension filled the air with those words.

"I’ll purchase all of your companies," he announced plainly. "At their full market value, no losses. You retain your positions, your offices, your names,but you’ll be working for me."

The room erupted into chaos.

Rook slammed his hand down on the table. "You think we’ll simply hand over our legacies like trophies?"

Lira leaned in sharply. "We’d rather watch our empires burn than sell them to you."

Mira Hel shook her head defiantly. "You want to take over the world!"

Arthur’s expression remained unfazed. "No," he replied gently. "I want to fix it."

A chorus of voices erupted in a mix of defiance and dread.

Darius Veyne stood up, striving for composure in his voice. "You can dismantle our systems, Arthur,but you will never break our spirit."

Arthur tilted his head slightly, as if pondering something both delicate and intriguing.

"Spirit," he said slowly, "is fragile when truth is wielded as a weapon."

He raised his hand once more.

The holographic displays shifted; the dubious documents disappeared, replaced by ten digital folders, each marked with a CEO’s name.

Arthur didn’t even need to open them; that single motion sent chills down their spines.

"I had hoped for a civil discussion," he said, keeping his voice steady. "But it seems you still think you have options."

He let his words hang in the air, flat and devoid of emotion. "You don’t."

Lira clenched her jaw and shot him a fierce look. "You honestly believe blackmail will make you a savior?"

Arthur held her stare. "I don’t aim to be a savior. I need to be obeyed."

Mira spoke up quietly. "Why do you even care about what happens to us? You could wipe us out completely."

Arthur allowed a faint smile to cross his lips. "Wiping you out would be wasteful. You understand the machine I’m building,you were the ones who crafted it first, simply without purpose. I will give it that."

His words cast an unsettling air over the room.

He regarded each of them in turn. "You all know what’s in those files: every crime, every hidden body, every bribe. Once they’re exposed, no government will dare to protect you."

Arthur fixed his gaze on Darius. "Do you remember what you said at last year’s Verdania Conference?"

Darius looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Arthur recited it word for word: "’Power is not about who creates the cure; power is about who decides who deserves it.’ You took pride in that line and shared it in front of thirty cameras."

Darius’s expression shifted as he grasped the implications.

Arthur’s voice turned cold. "So tell me: who decides who deserves to survive? Is it you, or is it me?"

The room fell silent.

Arthur waited patiently as ten seconds stretched on, the only sound being the hum of the yacht’s engines beneath them.

Finally, he stepped back slightly, his expression calm. "I’ll give you some time to consider my offer."

Darius clenched his fists defiantly. "We will never submit to your will."

Arthur’s gaze pierced through him with chilling focus. "You already have,you simply haven’t realized it yet."

The hologram began to flicker, as if preparing to vanish, but just before it did, Arthur added one last statement.

"I will reach out again in twenty-four hours. If you value what little power you have left, you’ll come to terms with reality."

He paused, his tone dropping to almost a whisper: "The next time we talk, I’ll show you why choices aren’t on the table for you."

With that, the hologram disappeared, the blue light fading away. The hum of the yacht returned, leaving an oppressive silence in its wake. No one dared to speak.

The only sounds were the soft lapping of waves outside and the steady hum of the cooling systems inside.

For what felt like an eternity, they remained motionless,ten pairs of eyes glued to the spot where Arthur’s figure had just been.

Finally, Darius reached out, his hand shaking slightly as it hovered over the holographic folder marked with his name. With a gentle click, the folder sprang open.

What he found made the blood drain from his face.

Inside were files, photographs, recorded calls, and private messages,everything that documented the illegal drug trials his company had carried out. Names of thousands, death tolls, locations, payments, it was all laid out in stark detail.

He swallowed hard, barely managing to whisper, "This... this can’t be real."

But it was.

The others took a moment to gather themselves before they, too, opened their own files.

Gasps echoed through the room.

Lira instinctively covered her mouth. Mira slumped back in her chair, while Korin stared blankly at the screen, his face pale.

Arthur hadn’t been lying; he knew everything.

Darius’s eyes remained fixed on the data, the holographic light casting an eerie glow on his drawn features. For a fleeting moment, he was frozen,motionless, unblinking.

Then, he slowly sank back into his chair. The anger that had sparked within him dissipated, replaced by something far more unsettling: dread.

Outside, the sea had returned to its calm state,unmoved by their inner turmoil.

Within those glass walls sat ten once-mighty leaders,individuals who had once wielded power over nations, now rendered mere shadows of their former selves.

Their empires had fallen. Their secrets were no longer theirs to guard.

And somewhere far away, Arthur Osborn was watching them intently.

The weight of the night outside felt heavier than ever.

Silence enveloped the room, and no one dared to speak again.