The Love Of Money - Episode 284
27-08-25 (10:22)
His jaw snapped shut, and he blinked, clearly not
expecting that from his mild-mannered client.
“Fine,” I said, stalking back around the table. “We’re
done here.”
“Mr. Upton! Wait! Can’t we just talk about this!? There
has to be another solution! He won’t come near your
account! We’ll keep you completely quarantined from
him! And if you leave Helen alone—”
“Not happening,” I said, whirling on Karl. “Even if Helen
wasn’t part of this, I’m not supporting a firm that has a
partner that wanted to literally murder me with his
own hands! As for Helen, VanCamp’s lost his wife. He
just doesn’t know it yet. She’s leaving with me. Today.”
“Mr. Upton,” Karl said. “You’re talking about starting a
feud between our firm and you. You can’t possibly—”
I laughed. “I’ve got Hiro Tanaka gunning for me, and
apparently, he’s one of the scariest men on the planet!
You think I’m scared of YPV?”
“Mr. Upton—”
“No. I’m fucking tired of all the games. I’m tired of
hearing about how scary everyone is. You know who I
think was one of the scariest men out there? My
grandpa. Well, guess what… I’m the Gerrard now, and
I’m saying that Roger VanCamp’s days are numbered.” I
glanced from Karl to William, letting both of them know
they had a choice to make.
“So, you have until I walk out that door to make up
your mind. Either Roger VanCamp goes, or I do.”
William and Karl looked at each other, and if I hadn’t
known better, it appeared as if they were
communicating telepathically. Eventually, Karl nodded to
William, who sighed, dropped the tran*********** back
on the table with the pile of damning evidence, and
reached for the phone sitting on the conference table.
“This is going to end badly, Marcus,” Karl said, looking
back at me. The expression on his face made me think I
was making him shoot his dog.
“I’m going to make it worse, Karl. You’re going to make
Helen the new partner at YVP. She gets everything
Roger has.”
“You can’t be serious!”
“I am. It’s part of this deal.”
“Why?” Karl asked.
“Because I need someone at YPV I can trust,” I said,
and the look I received from Karl suggested that was
unnecessarily harsh. After all, it looked like they were
staying with me. “Not that I can’t trust you, but I’ve
been working with Helen for a while now. I’m
comfortable working with her. Besides, I’m used to the
name. I want another VanCamp in the driver’s seat
with you.”
“I don’t know if we can make that happen,” Karl said.
“You’ll figure it out,” I replied. “Do this, and you have
my full support… and my business.” I glanced at Vikram,
“Oh, and give Vikram here a senior position. He’s sharp
and has integrity. You guys should reward that.”
Karl nodded as if that last request was the least of
them. He already looked like he was going to be sick.
“Roger,” we heard William say. “Are you in your office?
Good. Karl and I are coming to see you. We need to
talk.”
***
I probably wasn’t doing the guys any favors by going
with them to see Roger VanCamp, but I didn’t give a
shit. I wanted to see his face as I took everything from
him.
As we walked into his office's reception space, a young
woman with thick, dark brown hair and a fair
complexion stood up hurriedly and made her way
around her desk toward us. She was about 5’4” and
some change in heels, had a lovely cream complexion,
and almond eyes, favoring Ashlee a little.
“Mr. Yunger! Mr. Price!”
“Don’t worry, Candice,” Karl said. “He’s expecting us.”
“Alright…” she said, watching us pass while she stood
awkwardly beside her desk.
Yunger rapped on the door and opened it without
waiting for a response. All three of us entered, followed
by Chloe, and I shut the door behind me. My eyes
wandered around the room for any sign of Helen or
Ashlee, but neither were present. The only other person
in the room was Roger, who was standing behind his
desk, slightly bent over it with his palms resting on the
surface. As soon as he saw me, he straightened.
“What’s he doing here?” Roger asked, his stance
showing the wariness I could hear in his voice.
Karl took a deep breath and said, “Roger—”
“What is this?” Roger asked, gazing at the three of us
as we stood in front of his desk.
Karl and William both glanced at me as if asking me
with a look whether I really wanted to follow through
with this. When I didn’t say anything, William turned his
attention back to his soon-to-be-ex-partner. “Roger,
we’re here to ask you to resign as a partner of Yunger,
Price, and VanCamp.”
The room remained so quiet after William’s statement
that the persistent tick of the grandfather clock sounded
like construction equipment. William simply stood there,
his jaw hanging crooked and bouncing, almost as if he
were working a jawbreaker between his teeth. His
steely gaze bounced back and forth between the two
older men, and then he started to nod as if finally
making sense of the words William had just said to
him.
“Why?” he asked, surprising me with how calm he’d
been, and for a moment, I had a single shred of doubt
about whether or not this was the unhinged person
who had beaten me in Vegas. That man had been
beside himself. The Roger I was witnessing seemed
calm and collected in the face of professional ruin.
“We think,” Karl said, choosing his words carefully, “This
might no longer be the best place for you to work. Your
talents—”
Everything on VanCamp’s desk went hurling into the
wall as the man suddenly swept his hands across the
surface. His face was twisted in a snarl, and his well-
groomed hair fell out of place. “DON’T FUCK WITH ME!”
He screamed, flecks of spittle flying over the desk. His
words were punctuated by the crash of a phone,
computer, keyboard, picture frames, and other
paraphernalia crashing to the floor. William and Karl
both jumped in place, completely taken off guard by
the display, and I couldn’t blame them. Frankly, I was
surprised I wasn’t glued to the ceiling after the sudden
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