Chapter 104 - 105: The Famous Lawyer

Chapter 104: Chapter 105: The Famous Lawyer

Vance Sterling sat rigid in his plush leather chair on the tenth floor of a floating sky tower.

The view from his corner office was grand, but all he felt was suffocating dread.

He turned his head slightly toward the glass partition.

His secretary, Madalyn, was standing by her desk, looking at him with deep worry.

She had worked for him for years and knew about all his mistakes, his struggles, and the dangerous mess with Blackwood Holdings.

She listened to his calls like she always did when things got tense.

Vance flashed her a calm, reassuring smile, trying to settle her nerves.

It didn’t work at all. She knew him too well to buy his confident front.

Vance gripped the phone tightly, his knuckles turning white.

"You can go ahead and get me disbarred if you like," Vance said, his voice cold. "But I won’t commit another crime just to cover up an old one."

Derrick let out a dry, synthetic chuckle through the speaker.

"You shouldn’t bluff, Mr. Sterling. It doesn’t suit you."

While he spoke, Derrick’s fingers tapped rapidly on the supercomputer keys.

He seamlessly breached the sky tower’s internal security network, taking control of the high-definition cameras inside Vance’s suite.

The screen flickered, displaying a crystal-clear feed of Vance’s private office.

"Before you rush to any foolish conclusions," Derrick continued smoothly, "I am not asking you to break the law. I simply want you to do legal work for my company. I want your expertise, and I want your absolute loyalty."

At that moment, Madalyn quietly pushed open the heavy wooden door and stepped into Vance’s office, holding a tablet to her chest.

"Hello, Madalyn," Derrick’s voice flatly chimed through the receiver.

Vance stiffened. Madalyn froze mid-step, her eyes widening in shock.

Derrick had pulled up her personnel file and background details the exact second he spotted her listening on the camera feed.

"She seems very dedicated to you," Derrick added calmly. "It’s quite admirable I think."

Vance took a long, heavy breath, his shoulders finally slumping as he accepted the situation.

He looked up at Madalyn, giving her a small shake of his head to keep her quiet, then brought the phone back to his ear.

"If you want my loyalty, you have it," Vance said, his tone resolute. "But I cannot be loyal to a man pretending to be a ghost who threatens me over the phone without showing his face."

"As it should be," Derrick replied through the synthetic filter, his tone unreadable, flat, and completely devoid of human emotion.

"My company is in quite a pickle right now, Mr. Sterling. If you bring your expertise on board and help us navigate it, I can make every single trace of the Blackwood Holdings issue vanish completely—without implicating you or Madalyn."

Vance’s heart slammed against his ribs but the stoic expression never left his face.

Just who is this person. How do they know about Madalyn and the Blackwood Holdings... is it someone close to me?

Just as Vance opened his mouth to demand answers, his eyes flicked toward the glass door of his office.

A middle-aged bald man in an expensive suit was striding down the hallway, his face twisted into an impatient, aggressive scowl as he marched directly toward the door.

Vance’s posture immediately tensed up, he could not allow someone else from his firm to listen in on their conversation.

Much less the man who considered himself his rival.

Madalyn, who was standing near the desk, placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"I’ll handle him," she whispered reassuringly.

She offered Vance a calm, confident smile, smoothed down her skirt, and turned to walk out of the office to intercept the bald man.

Vance took a shaky breath, pulled the phone back to his ear.

"Well then Mr. Ghost, mind introducing yourself so I can handle your business?"

With no other way out of this mess, Vance decided to go with the flow and see how things turns out.

My main priority is to make sure he does not implicate Madalyn in anything.

On the other end of the line, Derrick’s lips curled up into a cold, satisfied smirk.

"My company is Myriad Pill Palace," Derrick said through the filter.

Vance gasped softly.

"You already have my business, Mr. Sterling," Derrick continued in his flat, robotic voice. "As for who I am... I will reveal myself when I have your loyalty."

Vince knew that name.

It has been a major talk among all the owners of the major business he had as a client.

The mysterious pill company that appeared out of nowhere with powerful alchemists working for them who managed to create so many 60% pure Grade 1 pills which meant they had at least one Tier 2 alchemist.

Everyone was trying to get a piece of this business.

And once he learned all of that... Everything clicked into place.

He finally understood why the mysterious caller approached him.

Why he used this method, it was all so he could remain anonymous.

"If what you said is true, you are quite the celebrity Mr. Ghost." The slight tensions in his shoulders slowly loosened. "Everyone is looking forward to meet you."

"Now you can understand why I had to approach you like this, I cannot afford to get my identity leaked. It will be a headache and I don’t want headaches, Mr. Sterling."

Vance chuckled before saying, "I assume, your trouble has something to do with the money you have been making lately."

"That and I am looking for a lawyer than can handle all of my legal matters in the future. Think of this as a trial run for a possibly long healthy relationship."

Vance leaned back in his chair when he saw his computer chime and all the documents related to the business arrived on his desk.

"You see, I don’t do trials for my clients but I will sure love to take on your business Mr. Ghost if you prove to be loyal."

Derrick rolled his eyes knowing the man was quite prideful of his position. "Then how about a challenge? Do my thing in next 60 mins and I will handle your troubles and if you fail to do it on time, you will work for me for free for the first month."

"Wait, wha—"

"The clock starts now, start making some calls. Toodles." Derrick did not wait for a response and cut the call pulling out from the firm’s network.