Chapter 8
486words
They were core internal secrets from Falcone Pharmaceutical Group.
They included the formulas for several drugs currently under development. Among them was an Alzheimer’s drug projected to reach a market value of fifty billion dollars, and the chemical formula that was actually being used to refine a new synthetic narcotic.
They included evidence of collusion with certain private hospitals to inflate drug prices and funnel kickbacks.
They included records of bribes paid to FDA officials to seize market share.
Every one of these materials had been obtained legally while I was still married.
Back then, in a show of trust, Dante had given me the highest level of access to the company’s internal network. He assumed I didn’t understand the value of commercial secrets or the inner workings of organized crime.
He was wrong.
I understood them very well, and I had copied and stored everything.
Now, it was time to sell these materials to the Falcones' competitors.
I contacted several of Falcone’s biggest rivals: Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson’s biotech division, and even a few hostile mafia families operating under legitimate shell companies. Each of them offered a reasonable price.
Before long, two companies agreed to buy the materials.
When the wire transfer cleared, I looked at the sudden eighty million dollars sitting in my Chase offshore account.
I felt nothing. That money should have been mine to begin with. I had contributed so much research to Falcone Pharmaceutical.
Yet Dante was only willing to throw twenty million dollars at me in the divorce agreement.
Why?
Before shutting off my phone, I received a call from Dante. His tone was as casual as ever, carrying his usual confidence and arrogance.
"I forgot to tell you that the judge’s schedule is still a month out. The lawyers can withdraw the divorce filing at any time. If you want to reconsider, it’s not completely off the table, but you’d better do something that satisfies me.
"For example, volunteer at Olivia’s research center. Make a public gesture. Let the outside world know you’ve reconciled. The family can’t afford to lose face."
His voice remained calm and assured, as if he were certain I couldn’t leave him. He seemed certain I couldn’t let go and wouldn’t dare escape the palm of his hand. It was as though he were certain I would eventually compromise and come crawling back.
I glanced at the boarding time.
Expressionless, I said, "Understood."
Then I ended the call decisively, pulled out the SIM card and dropped it into the trash, powered off the phone, and boarded the flight to Zurich, Switzerland.
'Dante, our game has only just begun. Did you really think I would surrender like this? You’re wrong. I’m going to make you watch with your own eyes as the empire you painstakingly built collapses.
'I’m going to make you understand exactly what you’ve lost.'
