Every day, I groveled for whatever scraps he was willing to give me, inching my way closer to my goal. After I did the dirty work for him with the Larsson Syndicate, gaining the trust of some of his soldiers, I took it, along with Larsson Industries. Everything he cares for is now mine.
I wouldn’t change anything I’ve done to get to where I am today, and Olan got everything he deserves. He left my mother with nothing because, to him, she was only good enough to be his whore. Even though he had no interest in her or me, Olan mistreated her and prevented her from moving on to a better life.
After she took her life when I turned eighteen, he refused to acknowledge who she was to him. I stood alone as they lowered her white casket into the ground, the only one who mourned her death and shed tears that mixed with the cold Swedish snow as I said goodbye. I’ll never be able to forget that day, a day which fuels my anger today. The day the loving, caring boy turned into Beast.
Just as he took the most precious thing in my life away from me, I took the most precious thing to him. Although she pulled the trigger, he’s fully responsible for her death. If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll be the cause of his.
“Olan, you and your friends aren’t exempt from the rules.” I try to rub away the building tension in my forehead. This conversation is wearing my patience thin, and when it comes to him, I already have very little tolerance. “Everything I do is legitimate and legally binding. Arthur knew the terms when he took my money, and so did you. If you were so concerned about Arthur’s predicament, why didn’t you put up the money to help him? Why don’t you put up the money now so he can keep hisbusiness, and life can go on as it should?” I ask, although I know the answer.
Olan doesn’t help anyone who isn’t a Larsson. Well, except for me, the Larsson bastard. The one who is a perfect likeness of him.
Arthur and Olan have been friends for decades, but that doesn’t matter to him. Arthur isn’t his blood. So, Arthur came to me for help like so many others.
When Olan doesn’t reply, I shake my head. Every shred of empathy for him was wiped away a long time ago. His threats and pleas for people who don’t deserve them are useless. He didn’t listen to hers. Why should I help anyone because he asks? He refused to help the one person I needed in my life, so now, I will repay the favor.
My mother, Freja Ek, begged for our freedom. She pleaded for him to let us go so she could find someone who would love her and me in return. But he refused and threatened to kill us both if she ever found another man to be her husband and my father. To him, we were his property even when he didn’t claim us. Even if he didn’t want either of us.
He stripped her of everything she ever knew. He forbade her from seeing her family or having friends. She couldn’t come and go without his permission or without a guard who was supposed to report her every move to him. So, she became isolated from everything and everyone she loved. With my birth, the restrictions became worse. She was his prisoner until she took her own life.
The only way to escape him.
Now, I refuse to do anything he asks of me. He doesn’t deserve my help nor my mercy, and nothing will change the outcome for Arthur Williamson. I gave him my hard-earned money in exchange for him signing the contract. Unless he paysme with interest in the next few minutes, I will own Williamson Holdings.
“Your day is coming.” Olan points his gnarled, trembling finger at me, spit flying from his mouth. “And I pray I’m alive to see it.”
“But you won’t be, Olan,” I respond calmly. “If I have anything to say about it, when my time comes, you won’t be alive to see any of it.”
“Is that a threat, boy?” He narrows his ice-blue eyes at me, the same color eyes I stare at each morning in the mirror with disdain. “You would dare threaten your own father?”
“See, this is where you and I differ.” I take a sip of whiskey, enjoying the burn as it slides down my throat, the heat calming the rage boiling in my gut. “I never threaten anyone. I only make promises.”
His face pales.
“Now do you understand, Olan?”
The beast he’s created always lurks just beneath the surface, and now, he sees him clearly. Now, he sees that the threat is real.
“You wouldn’t dare.” The tremble in his voice and fear in his eyes say he knows otherwise. He knows the truth. I mean every word. His time in this life is coming to an end sooner rather than later. “I’m your fucking father!”
“Of course, I would,Far.”
Father.
“You son of a whore!” he shouts. “You can go straight to hell, Florian.”
“You first, daddy dearest.” I wink, and his features darken. Olan has no idea the destruction I can cause, but he will soon enough. “Asva will see you out. Oh, and Olan, before you go…” He glares at me. I’ve never seen so much hatred in his eyes. “Make sure you stay away this time.” I shuffle the papers on mydesk to keep my hands occupied. Now isn’t the time to kill him, I remind myself. “We have nothing more to discuss.”
“You bastard!” he seethes. “I tried to get your bitch of a mother to get rid of you. I wish I’d done it myself. Put you in the same goddamn hole with her and be done with the both of you. You’re no son of mine.”
My jaw tics.
I can’t kill him now. Stay calm.
I regain my composure. I won’t let him see that he’s gotten under my skin. “You’re right, Olan. I’m definitely no son of yours. That’s the most coherent thing you’ve said in a long time.” I wave my hand. “Asva, escort him out, now. There’s nothing more for us to discuss.”
“This isn’t over, Florian!” Asva grabs Olan by the arm, pulling him toward the door. “This isn’t over!”
Despite the yelling, I try my best to ignore him. It’s not finished yet because I’m not ready for it to be over. Justice for my mother hasn’t been served yet.
