Chapter 4

The plane touched down at three in the afternoon.

Bayview City. I picked it at random.

As soon as I turned on my phone, it nearly blew up with notifications. Sixty-seven missed calls, over ninety texts, and more than nine hundred messages on WhatsApp.

I glanced through them quickly. Richard had called eleven times, Victor eight, and Corporate HR three.

There were also a dozen reporters who somehow got my number.

Most of the messages blowing up my WhatsApp were from the company group chat. I opened it, and sure enough, everyone was talking about me.

[Did Mr. Brooks really sell off everything?]

[Over three billion dollars?]

[He actually owned twenty-three percent of the company? I've worked here for five years and never knew.]

[Mr. Grant got sent to the hospital. I heard it was a blood pressure emergency.]

[The stock price hit the daily limit down. What are we supposed to do tomorrow?]

I quit the group chat.

Scrolling down, I spotted a private message from James: [Michael, I'm impressed. But you know Mr. Grant won't let this slide. Watch your back.]

I didn't bother replying and kept scrolling.

Then I saw a text from an unknown number: [Mr. Brooks, this is Edward Harris, a partner at Summit Capital.

[I'm really interested in meeting you to talk about what you did today. Give me a call if you're available.]

Summit Capital was one of the top five private equity firms in the country, managing over seventy billion dollars.

I glanced at the message, ignored it, and shoved my phone back in my pocket.

As I stepped out of the airport, the sea breeze hit me. It was hot.

I caught a cab to the hotel. When I checked in, the receptionist smiled and asked how many nights I'd be staying.

"Not sure yet. Just book me for a week," I said.

Once I got to my room, I pulled back the curtains, and there it was, the ocean right in front of me.

I stood by the window for a while, taking it all in.

Then my phone rang again. This time, it was someone I didn't expect. The caller ID showed: [Richard Grant (Secretary's Number)].

I picked up.

"Mr. Brooks, this is Sam, Mr. Grant's secretary," Sam said.

"Okay."

"Mr. Grant is in the hospital now, and his condition is stable. He asked me to pass along a message to you."

"Go ahead."

Sam hesitated, then said, "He told me to tell you. Don't think you can walk away from this."

I let out a small laugh. "Tell Mr. Grant to take it easy and focus on getting better."

"And he wants you to retract your resignation. He's not signing off on it."

"Doesn't matter. Labor law says my resignation goes through automatically after thirty days. I can wait."

Sam paused for a moment. "Mr. Brooks, so you know, Mr. Grant is really angry. He's already got the legal department involved."

"Suit himself."

"Are you sure you don't want to come back and talk?"

"There's nothing to talk about."

"Okay then."

I hung up, put my phone on silent, and tossed it onto the bed. Then I walked out to the balcony and sat down.

The sound of the waves rolled in, layer after layer. Suddenly, something hit me.

Seven years, and not a single day off. Even during the holidays, I was grinding away at the office.

Meanwhile, Richard would take off to Swissyland every winter for a two-week ski trip.

Before he left, he'd pat me on the shoulder and say, "Michael, you've worked hard. The company's all yours."

All the responsibility was mine, but the recognition? Always his. Bonuses? Never saw a dime. Even when the company went public, I wasn't allowed on stage to ring the bell.

I leaned back in my chair, watching the clouds on the horizon slowly turn red.

For the first time, I felt like the sky was bigger than I ever imagined.

My phone screen lit up. I glanced at it. It was a message from Joey: [Mr. Brooks, Horizon Enterprises' stock closed at the daily limit down, wiping out 2.1 billion dollars in market value.

[Richard's personal holdings lost 1.4 billion dollars.

[Also, three institutional investors have already sent letters demanding an emergency shareholders' meeting.]

I read the message, then flipped my phone over.

Whatever happened the next day, I would deal with it then. At that moment, I wanted to listen to the ocean.

*****

At eight the next morning, my phone buzzed, waking me up.

It was Joey. "Mr. Brooks, there's a new development."

"Go ahead."

"Horizon Enterprises put out a statement this morning, saying you allegedly took company trade secrets while you were there.

"They're demanding you pay back everything you made from selling your shares, and they're keeping the right to sue you."

I sat up against the headboard. "Trade secrets? What trade secrets are they talking about?"

"The announcement doesn't get into specifics. They said 'alleged.'

"But all the big financial media have already picked it up, with headlines like 'Horizon Enterprises' Former Exec Accused of Stealing Trade Secrets, 3 Billion Dollar Sell-Off Might Be Against the Law.'"

"Classic Richard move."

"Exactly. The stock's crashing, investors are all over him, and he needs a scapegoat to steady the market."

"So he picked me."

"Right. By making you out to be some traitor who stole company secrets and cashed out, he can shift all the investor rage onto you, so nobody blames him for screwing up."

I paused for a few seconds. "Does this even stand up in court?"

"Not at all. You owned those shares fair and square, and selling them was totally above board. It has nothing to do with trade secrets. But—"

"But the public doesn't care about any of that."

"Exactly. People online are already tearing you apart. Headlines like 'Greedy Exec Cashes Out and Runs' and 'Three Billion Dollar Dump Screws Over Small Investors' are everywhere."