Bitcoin Billionaire: I Regressed to Invest in the First Bitcoin!-Chapter 190: Grin of Victory

All the way back in the Golden Hay HQ, Gillian Henderson burst through the double doors of the executive chamber, his face flushed and furious. The polished oak walls of the boardroom reflected his agitation as his Italian shoes echoed across the marble floor.

"What do you mean he's gone?!" he snapped.

"We just got word back from Thorne, sir," the agent, sitting on the work panel replied, visibly terrified. "He said Grant just disappeared."

Vector spoke, "Our speculation is that he was rescued during the protest in Mattress Street."

Gillian looked at him. "What?"

Trying not to let things escalate, Charles Wynne, the old legal hawk, looked up from a report with a weary grimace, seeing the raging look on Gillian's face.

Around the table sat other senior board members— Maria Gentry, Vice Chair Doncaster, Councilor Kwong, and the head lawyer Vector Callahan, who was even more terrified than the rest of them.

As for the others in the room, they were all tense, silent, and visibly shaken.

Vector slid his glasses off slowly. "It's no more a speculation. Thorne drove the bus to Mattress Street, that was the first and only time he stopped. He was there for a while, distracted by what we assume was a fake cop. Riot got stronger. Using the night, someone must have swooped in and rescued young Hayes without Thorne noticing."

"Riot?" Gillian spat. "That's the excuse? A riot in the middle of a city we control?"

"It wasn't random," Charles muttered. "We reviewed the camera footage. It was staged. A mass distraction. The transport route was sabotaged, the protest was likely fake."

Gillian paced, losing his ponytail and running a hand through his long brown hair.

Vector stared at him. "Could it be that this is Darren Steele's doing?"

Gillian snapped his head at him, glaring. "What do you think, Callahan? Of course it is Darren Steele. It has to be. He fucking played us. He waited until we moved Grant, then struck like a thief in the night."

Angrily, he slammed his fist on the table. "Fuck! I thought Anders was supposed to be keeping busy!" ƒгeewebnovёl.com

"No one is going to stop me from getting those casinos! No one!"

"Let us calm down and think for a bit," said Maria Gentry coldly, "Darren struck like someone who knew exactly what we were doing. Perhaps it's high time for us to think more on what he is doing rather than assuming it and creating false solutions."

Charles nodded grimly. "But the problem is we have barely any time left now. With Grant out… Gillian's claim to operational control over the casinos is nullifying by the hour. Donald can't walk. Grant is the rightful heir. If he takes this to the law, we are all done for."

Gillian turned to Vector. "Then we silence him."

Vector gave him a long look, like he was out of his mind. "Silence him? It's too damn late for that. The media's caught scent. Brooklyn Baker posted three new articles in the last hour. CryptoTracker has a livestream countdown titled Where Is Grant Hayes Now? That's twenty thousand viewers. And rising."

Gillian slammed a fist against the table, rattling the coffee trays.

"Find Steele. Find Hayes. Find the team that pulled this off!"

Before anyone could answer, the double doors opened again— this time on Daisy Chen and Jonathan Vance.

"Don't worry," Vance said with a smile. "We could always find you."

Everyone paused and turned around, staring at the formidable duo of Darren Steele's legal defense.

Both were dressed in sleek dark suits, not like lawyers but like hunters. They walked in uninvited. Their posture wasn't aggressive. It was judicial.

"Perfect timing don't you think?" Vance continued, setting a thick leather-bound case on the table. "We were hoping to catch the rats before they scurried under the floorboards."

Vector stood. "You're trespassing."

"I think you're gonna let us go on this one," Daisy said flatly, opening the case. "Considering this building belongs to our business ally who you attempted to kidnap."

Everyone fell silent.

"Just take it that we're here to deliver a notice."

She passed thick manila folders around the board. One for each person. The air in the room thinned. The clack of folder clasps being opened replaced breathing.

Gillian narrowed his eyes. "What is this?"

Vance stepped forward, voice crisp and ringing like a gavel. "This... is one of my favorite parts of being a lawyer."

He couldn't let go of the smile on his face. "You see what's in your hands, ladies and gentlemen, is a lawsuit. You are being sued under charges of illegal restructuring, theft of assets under false representation, executive detainment, and embezzlement across state and international lines. These papers also accuse the Franchise merger group— of which you, Mr. Henderson, are a listed co-signer— of knowingly trafficking stolen company assets using dummy corporations. Canada. Nigeria. UAE. Would you like me to keep going?"

The room fell into stunned silence.

"You're bluffing," Vector growled.

"Bluffing?" Daisy chuckled scoffingly. "We're done playing, Mr Callahan."

Gillian snapped, his face reddening. "To hell with you bastards. You think we're over? No. We're not done yet. We have our own case. Darren Steele murdered John Brittle. A landowner. A man who once owned a warehouse Darren now illegally possesses."

He threw down files showing mockup evidence. "Ryan Anders told me everything. The man died of a so-called heart attack days after transferring the land. Ryan said Darren coerced him, killed him, and stole the warehouse for corporate leverage. That's murder. That's land theft. You want a war? Let's have one."

Vance and Daisy glanced at each other. Then slowly, calmly, they both laughed.

The sound was cold.

"You poor fool."

Daisy opened a second folder and slid it across the table to Vector.

"What's this?" Vector said.

"The autopsy Ryan forgot to delete," Daisy replied. "We pulled the medical reports and probate records under sealed warrants. The man didn't die naturally. He was killed with a muscle relaxant that mimics cardiac arrest."

She tapped the screen of her tablet, showing internal call logs. "The same muscle relaxant is a product of Padsign, a company that MWMO works for. What do you think will happen to Ryan when his client finds out he used their product to commit... murder."

Everyone gasped.

"And this?" She continued, "Is proof Ryan Anders filed three calls to the MWMO legal office that processed Brittle's estate— before the death was recorded. He clearly wants to purchase the land through auction after fighting our ownership over it."

"That's a lie," Gillian said, voice shaking. "You're fabricating— Ryan wouldn't—he… he told me... Can someone get Ryan Anders on the phone! He has to disprove this!"

Gillian looked around the room, expecting someone to do it. No one moved. Even Vector's face had gone pale.

They knew how perverse and evil Ryan Anders really was. It wasn't hard to believe that he could have done something like this.

Vance grinned victoriously. "And if you do get in contact with him, please let us know, mhm? We're handing him over to the authorities."

Gillian opened his mouth, but Vance raised a hand.

"You are now a named party in two upcoming lawsuits. One for business theft and kidnapping, and another —if you defend Ryan too loudly— for aiding and abetting second-degree murder."

Silence filled everywhere. Covered every mouth. It was deep. Final.

Gillian leaned back to the wall. His face cracking with fear and frustration. Sweat filled on his brow.

Across the table, one of the board members closed his folder gently and whispered:

"…We're going to lose."

Vance's smile returned, razor-sharp.

"You didn't know before?" he said. "You lost the moment you threatened Darren Steele."