Chapter 5 - The Execution of Power
The confrontation at the Mercer estate in Long Island was short, brutal, and entirely one-sided.
Matteo Mercer sat in his leather armchair, surrounded by four of his last loyal bodyguards, when the glass conservatory doors were shattered inward by flashbangs. Before his men could even draw their weapons, Daniel’s tactical team flooded the room, pinning the guards to the floor with laser sights trained on their chests.
Daniel walked through the smoke, his black coat billowing behind him, his eyes fixed on his uncle.
"Daniel," Matteo gasped, his hands shaking as he held a cigar that had gone cold. "You're making a mistake. The girl... she’s a distraction. The family needs—"
"The family belongs to me, Matteo," Daniel interrupted, his voice echoing off the high, vaulted ceilings. He threw a stack of signed asset transfers onto the desk. "You ordered an hit on my son today."
Matteo’s jaw dropped. "A... a son?"
"My heir," Daniel said, stepping forward until he was towering over the man who had ruled the family through fear for twenty years. "The boy you tried to kill because you wanted to protect your percentages. You are stripped of your rank. Your access codes are deleted. Your properties now belong to the Mercer trust."
"You can't cast me out!" Matteo roared, standing up. "The old council will never support a bastard heir!"
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"The old council is currently being arrested by the FBI based on an anonymous tip containing twenty years of your shipping logs," Daniel replied smoothly. "You have exactly ten minutes to sign these transfers and take the passport to a non-extradition country, or I let Viktor introduce you to the concrete floor."
Matteo looked at the signed documents, then at the twelve armed men standing in his living room. The supreme, untouchable authority he had wielded for decades evaporated into a pathetic, hollow panic. With a trembling hand, he picked up the pen.
