As he got dressed, Logan steadily tried to push the dream out of his mind.
’I really need to concentrate on this meeting,’ he thought, clenching his fist, trying to force the dream out.
The conflict with the Alvarez family and the Holy Cross Guild could start at any moment—he didn’t have any time to continue the investigation further.
’At this point, I need to fire whoever I’m sure is impacting the company negatively,’ he thought firmly. ’Even if that results in short-term losses.’
No matter what, he couldn’t go into a conflict when his company was infested with backstabbing worms.
Straightening his clothes, Logan turned toward the door.
Unlocking it, he found Silas waiting outside.
’’Took you a while,’’ he said, smiling.
Forcing a smile, Logan nodded. ’’Sorry, I never expected to sleep through my alarm.’’
’’It’s alright,’’ Silas said, walking alongside him to the meeting room. ’’It was expected with the chaos you caused yesterday.’’
Logan smiled weakly.
Silas glanced up at the ceiling, eyes full of satisfaction.
’’I never expected you to be able to kill the Alvarez kid,’’ he said, pride beaming in his voice.’’I don’t think my words can explain how proud I was when I got the news.’’
Looking at Silas in surprise, Logan finally smiled a real smile. ’’Thanks.’’
When they reached the meeting room, Silas nodded and held the door open.
Logan stepped through the doors without hesitation, his expression changing to be emotionless.
Inside the room sat the same people he’d hired days after he inherited the company, each carefully observing him.
Surprise flashed across most of their faces—the scrawny Logan they remembered from last time was nowhere to be seen.
’’Good morning everyone,’’ Logan spoke, sitting down in his seat. ’’Apologies for the wait. We can start now.’’
Logan’s gaze fell on the leader of the investigation team, the older man with silver hair and a long scar running down from his left ear to the edge of his jaw.
The man gave a nod, standing up.
’’Greetings Mr. Mercer,’’ he said, his voice deep.’’We have compiled a preliminary report, though I’ll admit that the scope of the corruption was far greater than anticipated.’’
Logan nodded, his face unreadable.
The man tapped his watch, showing one board member profile Logan was familiar with, together with timelines, charts, and more.
’’We’ve found solid proof on one more board member," the man said, pointing to the profile. ’’Hundreds of millions in embezzled funds and repeated harassment toward female staff."
He continued, swiping to a second set of images.
Logan’s expression shifted for a moment as he recognized Albert Hardza’s face.
’’Additionally,’’ the man spoke,’’We have suspicions about these two people. But we haven’t been able to find anything since they were extremely careful with their trails—be that physical or digital.’’
Silence fell in the meeting room as the leader of the investigation team sat back down.
Everyone stared at Logan, waiting for a response—or any kind of reaction at all.
Slowly, Logan nodded, still in thought.
He was very satisfied with the amount of corruption they’d been able to uncover in the limited amount of time they had.
’But since there’s no proof on the last two, and I’m pretty certain they are indeed corrupt. I’ll have to fire them and take the losses from the lawsuits.’
Snapping out of it, he realized everyone was staring at him.
Logan cleared his throat, giving a nod.
’’You all have done a phenomenal job these past few months,’’ he started, a small smile appearing on his lips.’’For which I’m incredibly grateful.’’
’’As all of you might have heard, there’s been some tensions between this company and another, forcing us to get rid of all suspected corruption early—even if that means taking losses.’’
The members of the investigation team looked at each other, raising their eyebrows or murmuring with the people around them.
’’Therefore, your contract has hereby been completed and the remaining sum of money will be deposited to your company,’’ Logan continued.
Everyone from the investigation team remained silent—some nodding as if they had expected it, while others looked shocked, completely caught off guard.
The silver-haired man stood up, giving a respectful nod.
"Understood, Mr. Mercer. We’ll send over the final audit files and close the remaining documentation by the end of the day."
After thanking them once again, the members of the investigation team filed out of the room one after another.
Once the last investigator left and the door clicked shut, only Silas, Edric, and Logan were left in the silent room.
Logan leaned back slightly, letting out a sigh.
’’We’ll handle the firing later today,’’ he said, looking at Silas. ’’Make sure Garrick and the other two S-rank dungeon heads are here for backup.’’
Silas gave a firm nod, smiling.
Turning to Edric, Logan continued. ’’What about the replacement staff?’’ he asked. ’’Are they ready to enter their roles?’’
Edric nodded, enlarging a hologram for everyone to see.
’’Most of them are ready,’’ he answered. ’’Only the finance team has two candidates still waiting on background checks. We should have the results by tomorrow morning.
’’Good,’’ Logan said, feeling as if some kind of weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
He discussed a few more minor details for the firing later on in the day with Edric and Silas, before sending a message to Marissa, the board member in charge of all legal issues, and explaining the situation to her.
Watching the message status switch to read, Logan switched off his watch.
’’I’ve sent Garrick and the others a summon,’’ Silas said, walking over to Logan.’’They’ll be here in a few hours.’’
Logan gave a small nod, standing up.
"Mind walking me back to my room?" he asked. "I want to practice a few techniques for the next few hours."
Silas smiled, gesturing for Logan to follow him as he pushed open the doors.
’By the end of the day,’ he thought. ’The company will finally be clean.’