The darkness remembered him before he remembered himself.
Five years of silence. Five years of shadows. And then, the gates of Redwood penitentiary creaked open, releasing a man who was no longer a man, but a myth. A monster. A billionaire with a name synonymous with terror:
Sebastiano De Luca was free.
"Old master Luca" An middle-age butler ran to meet an old man read a business news paper
"What is it ?" The old man ask
"Young master is back"
"What!!" the old man stood up abruptly
"Yes sir young master Shawn is back"
"Nonno what all the commotion" Sebastiano walk inside the huge mansion to where his grandfather stood
"Sir Shawn welcome home " The middle-age man man bowed respectfully to Shawn / Sebastiano
"Austin prepare my room for me I'll be there in an hour , I need to discus something with my Nonno" Shawn walks up to an empty chair
"If I didn't know you where arrested , one will think you just came back from a vacation Nipotino " Shawn just glance at his grandfather and didn't say anything
"Shawn oh my sweet son, look at how thin you are why didn't you aloow us to get you out of that hell when we al know you didn't do anything?"
"Mom that is enough mama" Shawn struggle to get out of his mothers grabs as she was invading his personal space
"Huh big brother Shawn your back "Lorenzo De Luca, Shawn's younger brother walks in but was immediately hit with a paper fan
" Mama!!"
"How many times have i told you not to call your brother 'big brother' it is fratelo"
"But mum"
"You little brat it is 'mama' not 'mum'"
" Enough you two , Sebastiano just came back from jail after five god years and al you are do is fighting like a bunch of kids. Sab met me in my study" With that the old man left
"Sorry Papà"
"Sorry Nonno"
Few minutes later:
"Nipotino ..... I want you to take over the group by next year." The old man stood by the flor to ceiling glass , even almost reaching 90. he had an imposing aura that could easily crush an ordinary person
" But Nonno need not remind you that I am an ex convict who just got out of prison, how do you expect me to hold a company talk less of a group? Or have you forgot ten how many people died" Shawn got angry and walked up to his grandfather
"Nonno do you even think they will accept, the shareholders, an ex convict as my....."
"Enough, I don't care how you do it, you will revive the company to its formal glory"
"What do you me formal glory? " The old mam said nothing has he stared into space
"Nonno !" still nothing came out from the old mans mouth just an heavy sigh
"Nonno tell me what happened when I was away" Shawn tried everything in his power to control his anger
" When you were sent to prison , some shareholders started selling their shares, at first we thought it will be okay since it was just a few shareholders but then... We found out that some people in the finance department were stealing some company funds and transferring it to an oversea account. After that, loads and loads of problem hit the company that we had to borrow some money from the bank and now we are behind payment and we will lose the house within four months" Shawn could not believe his ears
"Napotino I know it going to be hard but we need you to lead the company now".
"Nonno I understand, in less than two month you won't have to worry about the company or the house again" The old man turn to face his grandson with a huge smile on his face that one might think he just won life's big lottery
"That's god Sab"
"But it comes with a price" The old man look at Sebastian in astonishment like he grew two heads
"And what will that be?"
"If I succeed, I will have complete authority in this family. Which means any and everything will be brought to me and I will have the final say" The old man simply smiled gently
"Of course Nipotino, you will be the head of these family". Then he left his grandfather's office with a smirk on his face
The next day
Sebastiano arrived at the office before dawn, his mind racing with ideas and strategies. He gathered his team in the conference room and laid out the situation, being brutally honest about the company's financial struggles.
"We have two options" Shawn said, his voice firm and resolute, "We can either file for bankruptcy and lose everything or we can fight to save the company. I say we fight!!!"
His team looked at him with a mix of fear and determination, but Shawn saw the spark of hope in their eyes.
"Here's how we're going to do it . We'll renegotiate with our investors , see if we can get an extension on our loans.. We'll cut costs wherever we can , and we'll focus on our core tech . We'll do whatever it takes to stay afloat"
His team nodded, some of them taking notes , others looking determined
Shawn stood up, his eyes scanning the rom," Let's do this. Let's save the company , and i promise after this crisis your salary will be doubled and you will all get a promotion" The crowd of few workers exploded in applause
Every one scattered with each individual doing a different job.
Just in this, morning everyone was scared and didn't want to look him in the eye for obvious reasons, but now was deeply moved by his little speech
"This next few years will be a hell of a ride" Sebastiano smirk and continued barking orders and kept busying himself.
Will Sebastiano be able to revive his family's company or will it be bankrupt and size to exist ?
Find out in the next chapter. Bye for now Lovies😁🥰😘