The Mafia King's obsession

Alexander POV The numbers on my screen weren't just bad. They were a death sentence. I had been staring at them for three hours. Red everywhere. Red meant loss. Red meant failure. Red meant my father's company was bleeding out on my watch. My jaw was so tight it hurt. Grey Enterprise. The name my grandfather built. The name my father protected. The name I was supposed to carry into the next generation. Instead, I was watching it drown. I pushed back from my desk and stood up. The floor-to-ceiling windows showed the city below. Cars moved like blood through veins. Somewhere out there, people were winning. People were closing deals. People weren't watching their legacy turn to ash. I ran a hand through my hair in and turned back to the screen. Ludans Enterprise and Co. That was the name. The one that appeared six months ago like a tumor. A new company with deep pockets and aggressive tactics. They came out of nowhere and started swallowing my market share like it was nothing. Their prices were lower. Their contracts were faster. Their reputation spread like fire. And Grey Enterprise? We were the old house burning down while everyone watched. The door to my office opened. Jenna walked in with that look on her face again. The careful one. The one that said I have bad news and I'm scared to say it. I didn't sit back down. "What is it?" She held a tablet against her chest like a shield. "Mr. Grey... Sterling Company just called." Sterling Company. Our biggest contractor. The one that accounted for thirty percent of our annual revenue. The one my father personally signed a contract with twenty years ago over a handshake and a bottle of whiskey. "What did they say?" Jenna swallowed. "They want to terminate the contract. Effective immediately." The words hit my chest like a fist. "Effective immediately?" My voice came out harder than I meant it. "We have a ninety-day notice clause. It's in black and white. Their lawyer signed it. My father signed it." "They're willing to pay the penalty," Jenna said quietly. "They already transferred the compensation fee to our account this morning." I stared at her. They paid the penalty. They paid it without fighting. Without negotiating. Without even giving me a chance to come to the table. That meant they didn't care about the money. They just wanted out. "They're signing with Ludans," I said. It wasn't a question. Jenna didn't answer. She didn't have to. Her silence was louder than any words. I turned back to the window. My reflection stared back at me. Twenty-five years old. Dark eyes that looked older. A face with sharp lines and one small scar on my jaw from a fight I barely remembered. I looked like a man who was watching his world end. Because I was. "Anyone else?" I asked. Jenna hesitated. "Jenna. Anyone else?" She opened her mouth to answer, but my phone saved her. It buzzed against the desk. Then again. Then again. I walked over and looked at the screen. Mom calling. I let it ring. It stopped. Then started again. Dad calling. I closed my eyes. My father never called during work hours. Never. He trusted me to run the company. He handed me the keys three years ago and told me to make him proud. He said he would stay out of my way. If he was calling now, it wasn't because he wanted to chat. I picked up. "Dad." "Alexander." His voice was tight. Not angry. Worried. That was worse. "I just got off the phone with Richard from Sterling." Richard from Sterling. The man my father had golfed with for two decades. The man who came to my birthday parties when I was a kid. The man who just stabbed us in the back. "I know," I said. "Jenna just told me." "Richard said they had no choice. He said the numbers didn't make sense anymore. He said…" My father stopped. I heard him breathe. "Son, what is happening?" What was happening? I looked at the screen again. The red numbers. The falling graph. The list of contracts that had disappeared in the last three months like sand through fingers. "Ludans," I said. "They're buying everyone out. Lower prices. Faster delivery. Longer payment terms. We can't compete with whatever war chest they're carrying." My father was quiet for a long moment. "How bad is it?" I didn't want to answer that. Saying it out loud would make it real. But my father deserved the truth. "We lost forty percent of our market share in six months," I said. "Twelve contracts terminated. Eight more up for renewal that I'm almost certain we won't keep. And if the trend continues…" "Continue how?" I gripped the phone tighter. "If it continues, we'll be bankrupt by the end of the year." Silence. Long. Heavy. The kind of silence that sits on your chest and presses down until you can't breathe. Then my father said something that broke me more than any contract termination ever could. "I believe in you, son." He hung up. I stood there with the phone against my ear, listening to nothing. I believe in you. What a joke. What a cruel, beautiful joke. Because belief didn't pay bills. Belief didn't stop Ludans from gutting my company. Belief didn't bring back the twelve contracts that had walked out the door. I set the phone down and looked at Jenna. She was still standing by the door. Still holding that tablet like a shield. "Who else?" I asked again. She took a breath. "Since you asked... Harrison Group withdrew this morning. So did Mason Industries. And I just got an email from Pinnacle Logistics saying they're rejecting our renewal proposal." I felt each name like a punch. Harrison. Mason. Pinnacle. All gone. "How much do we owe them?" I asked. "The compensation agreements total about two-point-four million. Due within thirty days." Two-point-four million. Money we didn't have. Money that would come out of reserves that were already empty. Money that would push us closer to the edge. "Anything else?" My voice sounded hollow. Like it was coming from someone else's throat. Jenna hesitated again. That look was back. The careful one. The scared one. "Jenna." "Your parents aren't the only ones calling," she said. "I've been screening your calls for the last hour. Brentwood Corporation. The Meridian Group. Three other contractors I didn't recognize. All of them want to speak with you directly." "About what?" She met my eyes. "I think you know." I did know. They wanted out. Every single one of them wanted out. They were lining up at Ludans' door like customers at a fire sale, and Grey Enterprise was the merchandise being cleared off the shelves. "Send them all to voicemail." I said coldly Jenna flinched at my tone. I didn't blame her. I was scaring myself. I walked to the window again. Pressed my palm against the cold glass. The city below didn't care that I was failing. The sun was still setting. The cars were still moving. Somewhere, people were laughing. Drinking. Living. And me? I was standing in an office that might not be mine in six months, watching my reflection look back at me like a stranger. "Mr. Grey." Jenna's voice was softer now. "There's something else you need to see." I didn't turn around. "What?" She walked over and set the tablet on my desk. A news article was open. The headline made my stomach drop. "GREY ENTERPRISE: THE FALL OF A FAMILY LEGACY" I grabbed the tablet and read. Sources close to the company report that Grey Enterprise has lost over forty percent of its market share in under six months. Multiple contracts have been terminated. Industry analysts say the company may not survive the year. "It's a shame," said one anonymous insider. "The Grey family built something special. But they couldn't keep up with the new players. Ludans Enterprise is eating their lunch." Repeated attempts to reach Alexander Grey, CEO of Grey Enterprise, were unsuccessful. I threw the tablet back on the desk. "Anonymous insider?" I turned to Jenna. "Who talked to them?" "I don't know. But this article went viral this morning. Everyone has seen it." Everyone. Including every contractor still on the fence about staying with us. Including every bank that might approve a loan. Including every supplier who might extend credit. The article wasn't just reporting the fall. It was speeding it up. My phone buzzed again. Then Jenna's phone. Then the office phone. A chorus of ringing. All of them demanding answers I didn't have. I stood in the middle of my office, surrounded by the sound of my world collapsing, and I realized something terrible. This wasn't the bottom. We were still falling. My phone rang and I looked at the caller. It was Lara. Something in me just relaxed.