Chapter 145: Karma Return

Xavier was at his desk Monday morning when Patricia called.

Not a message. A call. Which meant something that didn’t fit neatly into a message.

He answered on the second ring.

"Patricia," he said.

"Xavier." Her voice had the particular measured quality she used when she was about to deliver information that required careful handling. "I need you to look at something. I’m sending it now."

His phone buzzed. An email. He opened it.

A legal document. Formal. A claim filed against Gerald Obi Logistics — his first Kenvale acquisition by a company called Vantage Commercial Holdings. The claim alleged that the acquisition had been conducted irregularly and was seeking to have the ownership transfer reversed on the grounds of a prior undisclosed interest in the business.

Xavier read through it twice.

Prior undisclosed interest, he thought. Gerald Obi’s logistics company. Filed while I was in Millhaven.

He looked at the filing date. Saturday morning.

While I was finding two businesses in Millhaven and having room service with Selene, he thought. Someone filed a legal claim against my first acquisition.

"Vantage Commercial Holdings," he said. "Who are they."

"That’s what I’ve been trying to establish since this landed in my inbox this morning," Patricia said. "They’re registered in Kenvale District. Incorporated eight months ago. Minimal public footprint. The director listed is a man named Derek Osei. No relation to me before you ask." A brief pause. "Xavier — eight months ago is around the time you made your first significant financial transactions in Kenvale."

Eight months ago, Xavier thought. Which is three months before I reincarnated.

Someone set up a holding company before I even arrived, he thought. Which means this isn’t about Gerald Obi’s logistics company specifically. This is about whoever has been watching the pattern and decided to move while I was out of the city.

"Send everything you have on Derek Osei to my security contact," Xavier said. "Tonight."

"Already done," Patricia said. "I sent it an hour ago."

She anticipated it, Xavier thought. Patricia.

"What’s our legal position," he said.

"Strong," she said. "The acquisition was clean. The paperwork is watertight. Their claim is thin. The prior undisclosed interest they’re alleging doesn’t appear to exist in any documentation we can find." She paused. "But thin claims can still cause delays. They can tie up the ownership in dispute proceedings for months if we let them."

"We won’t let them," Xavier said.

"No," she said. "We won’t." Another pause. "Xavier, this feels coordinated. One business, filed while you were travelling, by a company that barely exists on paper."

"I know," he said.

"Be careful," she said. And hung up.

Xavier set the phone down.

Looked at the ceiling.

Coordinated, he thought. Vantage Commercial Holdings. Derek Osei. Eight months old. Filing a claim on a Saturday while Xavier is in Millhaven with no reason to be checking his business email.

Someone has been watching, he thought. And they picked their moment.

He opened his phone and called Vincent.

Vincent answered on the first ring.

"I heard," he said. Before Xavier had said anything.

"Patricia move fast," Xavier said.

"Patricia called me before she called you," Vincent said. "We have a parallel track running. My analysts are pulling everything on Vantage Commercial Holdings and Derek Osei right now." A brief moment. "Xavier — I’ve seen this pattern before. A shell company with minimal footprint files a claim against a legitimate acquisition to create disruption. It’s not about winning the claim. It’s about the noise. The uncertainty. Making you spend resources defending something that shouldn’t need defending."

"Who benefits from the noise," Xavier said.

"Someone who wants to slow you down," Vincent said. "Or someone who wanted Gerald Obi’s logistics company themselves and didn’t move fast enough." A pause. "Or someone who has been watching your acquisition pattern across all nine businesses and has decided to test how you respond."

Test how I respond, Xavier thought.

Nine businesses in four months, he thought. Seven in Kenvale. Two in Millhaven. Someone watching the whole picture and deciding the first acquisition, the oldest one, the one most likely to have documentation gaps was the right place to apply pressure.

Smart, he thought. Wrong. But smart.

"How long to identify Derek Osei’s actual backing," Xavier said.

"Twenty four hours," Vincent said. "Maybe less. My Millhaven contact is already running a parallel check. Vantage was incorporated there first before being registered in Kenvale."

Millhaven, Xavier thought. The company that filed against his Kenvale acquisition was incorporated in Millhaven. Where he’d been for two days finding two businesses that nobody in his network had flagged.

Coincidence, he thought. Or not.

"Keep me updated," he said. And hung up.

He opened his banking app.

Checked the balance.

$20,077,383, he noted. Passive return already credited. Cap sitting untouched.

He cycled a morning donation while he thought.

[ REBATE SYSTEM ]

Transaction Detected: $500,000 spent on donation — Global Education Trust

Base Multiplier (Tier 2): 2x

Total Return: $1,000,000

[ Net Balance: $19,577,383.00 → $20,077,383.00 ]

His security contact messaged at 11AM.

Not a call. A message with an attachment.

Xavier opened it.

Derek Osei — 34. Former commercial property broker. Kenvale District. Three failed business ventures between 2019 and 2024. Currently operating as a director for hire. His name appears on four shell companies in the past two years, none of which have conducted any meaningful business activity. Vantage Commercial Holdings is the most recent. Funding source for Vantage: unclear from public records. Private wire transfers from an account registered in a name that doesn’t match any known individual in the district.

Xavier read it twice.

Director for hire, he thought. His name on the paperwork but someone else’s money behind it.

Which means Derek Osei is not the threat, he thought. Derek Osei is the front.

Someone else is the threat.

He forwarded everything to Patricia and Vincent simultaneously.

Then he sat back and looked at the ceiling.

Who, he thought. Who has the resources to set up a shell company, fund it quietly, and deploy it against a specific acquisition at a specific moment while the target is out of the city.