There was a message waiting. A scheduled financial brief from my personal wealth manager analyzing the debt structures of five major Wall Street firms.
Right at the top of the list of the most aggressively over-leveraged firms in the country was Sterling Capital.
I pushed the gold phone back into my pocket, a cold, unfamiliar rhythm beginning to beat inside my chest.
“Tell me, Headmaster,” I said, my voice completely devoid of emotion as I stared in the direction Jason’s Bugatti had disappeared. “Who exactly holds the primary debt notes for Richard Sterling’s firm?”
CHAPTER 2
Headmaster Harrison physically recoiled, looking around the empty parking lane to ensure no lingering students were eavesdropping. The morning sun was burning off the last of the fog, casting sharp, revealing light over the spilled soil and the crushed steel of my wheelbarrow.
“Arthur, please,” Harrison begged, lowering his voice to a frantic whisper. “Do not engage with Richard Sterling. The man is a sociopath in a tailored suit. He doesn’t just ruin careers; he guts institutions. If he finds out you have any influence here, he will turn this school inside out to tear you down.”
I knelt stiffly on the asphalt, grabbing the wooden handle of my shovel. “You didn’t answer my question, Harrison.”
Harrison swallowed hard, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his sweating forehead. “I… I don’t know the exact corporate structures, Arthur. I only know that Richard Sterling has been buying up immense amounts of local real estate through shell companies on massive margin loans. He’s been heavily leaning on the board to sell him the historic botanical gardens behind your greenhouse to build luxury condominiums. He holds an incredible amount of leverage over the other parents.”
“He builds castles on credit,” I muttered, scraping the edge of the shovel against the pavement to scoop up the spilled fertilizer.
Leo hurried over, grabbing the opposite side of the broken wheelbarrow to help me lift it. The poor kid was shaking, his knuckles white with anxiety. “Artie, let me do that. You should go to the nurse. Your shoulder hit the ground pretty hard.”
I looked at Leo’s frightened face. He was worried about me, but he was also profoundly terrified of the threat Jason had made regarding his scholarship. The Sterlings had made this boy feel small, just like they tried to make me feel small. I hated people who weaponized wealth against the defenseless. It was a lazy, pathetic use of power.
“I’m fine, Leo,” I said softly, giving the boy a reassuring nod. “Go to class. Don’t worry about Jason.”
“But the Headmaster—” Leo started, looking at Harrison with wide eyes.
“Mr. Harrison and I have an understanding,” I interrupted smoothly. “Go to class.”
Leo hesitated, then finally nodded, grabbing his backpack and hurrying toward the science building.
Once the boy was out of earshot, Harrison stepped closer to me, his panic shifting into a pathetic kind of desperate logic. “Arthur, you have to understand the position I’m in. Richard Sterling is attending the spring luncheon on the lawn at noon today. He expects me to present the botanical gardens as a viable development site to the board. And now Jason is going to tell him that you attacked his car. You have to apologize.”
I stopped shoveling. I turned my head slowly, looking at the sweating Headmaster.
“You want me,” I said, my voice dropping an octave, “to apologize to an eighteen-year-old boy who intentionally hit me with a two-million-dollar car?”
“It’s not about right or wrong!” Harrison hissed, his eyes darting toward the administrative building. “It’s about survival! If you just apologize, play the part of the frightened groundskeeper, it pacifies them. If you fight back, Jason will demand your termination. And if I refuse to fire you, Richard Sterling will demand an audit of the school’s trust to find out why I’m protecting you. If he discovers the endowment is tied to the Vance family… he’ll find a way to liquidate it.”
I leaned on the handle of my shovel. The Headmaster’s cowardice was nauseating, but his fear of Richard Sterling’s predatory tactics confirmed everything I suspected. Sterling Capital wasn’t just aggressive; they were vulnerable. Men who chased marginal land grabs to stay liquid were usually drowning in unseen debt.
“Go prepare for your luncheon, Harrison,” I said calmly. “I will handle my own employment.”