Chapter 5: A Debt of Ruin

Chapter 5: A Debt of Ruin

The boardroom of Sterling Industries was a mausoleum of mahogany and hubris. A long, polished table, reflective as a dark lake, dominated the space. On the walls hung the oil-painted portraits of past Sterling patriarchs, their gazes stern and judging. Liam had spent his adolescence in this room, being lectured, dismissed, and reminded of his secondary status. He had been summoned here to be diminished. Today, he had come to collect a debt.

He entered with Michelle on his arm. They were a portrait of serene, untouchable power. Liam wore a suit of midnight blue so perfectly tailored it looked like a second skin, while Michelle’s sharp, elegant business dress was a silent statement that she was here not as a wife, but as a principal of the Vance-Sterling alliance.

The rest of his family was already assembled, looking like figures in a tragedy. His father, Arthur, sat at the head of the table, his face a thundercloud of controlled fury. His mother, Eleanor, was beside him, her eyes red-rimmed and swollen, a crumpled silk handkerchief clutched in her hand.

And then there was Todd.

The golden boy was tarnished. He was slumped in his chair, his expensive suit looking slept-in and ill-fitting. His skin was pale and waxy, dark circles under his eyes telling a story of sleepless nights and panicked phone calls. He had the hunted, desperate look of an animal caught in a trap, a pathetic shadow of the triumphant peacock who had hijacked a wedding reception just two weeks ago. He refused to meet Liam’s eyes.

“You’re late,” Arthur Sterling growled, his voice accustomed to instant obedience.

“We came when it was convenient for us,” Liam replied, his tone as cool and flat as the marble floor. He pulled out a chair for Michelle before taking the one directly opposite his father, a deliberate placement that split the table into two opposing territories.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Eleanor burst out, her voice cracking. “The calls we’ve had to field! The whispers! Lucy’s family has practically declared war on us. Your brother… look at him! He’s destroyed!”

Liam’s gaze flickered to Todd for a fraction of a second, as devoid of pity as a hawk’s. “He looks like a man facing the consequences of his actions for the first time in his life. It must be a novel experience.”

“Do not play games with me, Liam,” Arthur snapped, slamming a palm on the table. The sound echoed in the cavernous room. “That… performance at the wedding. The woman, the phone, the screen—it had your fingerprints all over it. A cheap, theatrical stunt that has dragged this family’s name through the mud.”

“I’m not sure what performance you’re referring to,” Liam said, his expression one of mild, detached curiosity. He leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers. “I was on my honeymoon with my wife, enjoying the peace and quiet your hysterical voicemails so rudely interrupted. As I recall, the only theatrical stunt was Todd’s impromptu proposal in the middle of my wife’s dance with her father.”

He turned his gaze to Michelle, who gave a small, almost imperceptible nod of assent. Her silent presence was more damning than any accusation. It was a constant, graceful reminder of the initial transgression.

“He was in love!” Eleanor wailed. “It was a romantic gesture!”

“It was an ambush,” Liam corrected her, his voice dropping, losing its detached calm and taking on a razor’s edge. “A calculated act of narcissism designed to humiliate my wife and assert his dominance. He broke a direct promise to his own father. Any fallout from that point forward rests solely on his shoulders.”

“This is your fault!” Todd finally spoke, his voice a hoarse croak. He lifted his head, and his eyes were filled with a venomous, self-pitying rage. “You set me up! You wanted this to happen! You’ve always been jealous of me!”

Liam simply stared at him, letting his brother’s pathetic accusation hang in the air and rot. The chilling silence was more effective than any denial. He had endured a lifetime of these accusations, of being the villain in Todd’s perfect story. It no longer had any power over him.

He reached down and lifted a slim, elegant folder of dark leather onto the table. It was embossed with the logo of his own tech firm, a subtle but clear reminder of where the real power in the room now lay. He slid it across the polished surface. It stopped directly in front of his father.

“What is this?” Arthur demanded.

“As you’ve all made clear, this is a family matter,” Liam said, his voice returning to the cool, precise tone of a CEO. “But Todd’s actions took place at a private event which I funded. They impacted my business reputation and my marital alliance. Therefore, I’ve decided to handle this the only way our family truly understands: as a business transaction.”

Arthur’s brow furrowed. With a sense of dread, he opened the folder. Inside was a single, heavy sheet of linen paper. At the top, in stark black letters, it read: INVOICE.

His father’s eyes scanned the document, his face draining of all color. Eleanor leaned over, peering at the paper, and let out a small, horrified gasp.

Liam calmly addressed his stunned brother. “You wanted the spotlight, Todd. You got it. But nothing in this world is free. This is the bill.”

He ticked the points off on his fingers, his voice methodical.

“First, an Event Hijacking Fee. This covers the prorated cost of the venue, catering, security, and entertainment for the portion of the evening you commandeered for your own personal drama.”

“Second, Reputational Damages. The Sterling-Vance wedding was a major social and business event. Your sideshow turned it into a public scandal, which reflects poorly on my brand and, more importantly, on my wife and her family. We’ve quantified this based on the negative media impressions and the necessary PR countermeasures.”

“Third, and most significantly,” Liam’s gaze hardened into chips of granite, “a charge for Infliction of Emotional Distress, payable directly to Michelle. For turning what should have been one of the happiest moments of her life into a public spectacle of humiliation.”

He paused, letting the weight of the words sink in.

“The grand total,” he concluded, “is twenty-seven million dollars.”

The silence that followed was absolute. Todd looked as though he’d been physically struck. Arthur’s hands were trembling slightly as he stared at the impossible figure on the page.

“This is insane,” Arthur finally managed, his voice a strangled whisper. “This is extortion.”

“No,” Liam corrected him smoothly. “It’s an invoice. And it’s non-negotiable. You have thirty days to make the payment. From Todd’s personal accounts and trust fund, of course. Not from the company coffers.”

“I don’t have that kind of money!” Todd choked out, his panic finally boiling over. “My trust is controlled by Dad! I can’t—”

“Then you’d better hope he thinks you’re worth it,” Liam cut him off. He stood up, followed by Michelle. The meeting was over. He held all the power.

He walked to the door, then paused, turning back to face his shattered family.

“Consider this my way of ‘fixing’ things,” he said, the ghost of his cold, merciless smile playing on his lips. “You wanted me to clean up Todd’s mess. I have. I’ve put a price on his arrogance. You can either pay the bill for the spotlight he stole, or you can refuse.”

He let the unspoken threat hang in the air for a beat.

“And if you refuse,” he finished, his voice dropping to a deadly whisper, “then the next act will be a full hostile takeover bid for Sterling Industries, funded by my company and the Vance family fortune. I will leak every instance of Todd’s incompetence, every profligate expense, every failed deal he’s ever covered up. I won’t just ruin him socially. I will dismantle his inheritance, piece by piece, and sell it for scrap.”

He opened the door and gestured for Michelle to precede him. He gave his family one last, dismissive look.

“The choice is yours. You have thirty days.”

Then he walked out, closing the door softly behind him, leaving his family trapped in the mausoleum with the bill for their golden boy’s ruin.