Chapter 7

He felt his hands tremble and his whole body plunge into a deep restrained violence.

The Lecomte group was responsible for his death, and could see that François was not involved, as far as he knew.

However, why did your directors make a decision like that?

Duncan Valois slowly released the blade from Petit’s throat, which moved away.

Luidi breathed relieved, and looked at Duncan.

"Chief, the death of Duncan Valois will do business well..."

" You will shoot in the world ranking, the Lecomte Group does not have another competitor like the Empire Group! " Said another man, and Duncan recognized him as Martin, another subordinate.

" Everyone knows that the Valois family was responsible for the great growth of the Empire Group. Like his father Dominique Valois, increased growth in his time as CEO, his son did similar. Duncan Valois was largely responsible for success. " Agreed Fernand.

Duncan bit his teeth, he snapped his neck and closed his eyes.

He lost his life for money?

That consumed him, that cruel and poisonous realization burned him like the flames of hell.

Which is certainly where I’d be going for what I was about to do.

The man opened his eyes.

" I want you to bring me all the superiors involved."

His orders were not questioned, his hard gaze and the knife in his hand left doubts as to his determination.

Luidi Petit and his father nodded, just as the others left him in the room alone.

As soon as Duncan found himself alone he fell to his knees, he did not feel weak.

He felt sick with hatred, a hatred so deep and suffocating that it drove him mad.

Duncan dropped the knife, and put his hands on the floor.

He was so clean that he could see his reflection, not his own, but François’s.

Duncan understood that he would never look back at his own reflection, he was a corpse now.

Somehow his soul had been reborn in that body, and all that had to have a purpose, he thought. 

What if maybe the purpose of that was to find and punish all those responsible?

The man got up and left the room, he left with the secretary the address he should pass to the boys and went to a private property in Lecomte, something distant and isolated.

He went down the basement stairs, looked for thick chains and gathered everything he could use.

When the basement looked very much like a place of torture he went up to the room, drank wine and waited for Petit’s call.

As he looked at the phone he realized that the last time he heard Rosalie’s voice was at the time of her death, her heart compressed into her chest, her mind spinning thousands of thoughts.

He felt adrift, alone in a storm, longing to hear a voice from heaven telling him that everything would be all right, even if it didn’t.

Duncan did not realize he had got up, picked up the phone and dialed his home number, did not realize until he heard the voice on the other side.

"Hello"

It was her voice, her Rose. And before she hung up the phone, Duncan heard her cry.

That was like a knife in your heart.

He turned away from the device, and realized that Rosalie could no longer be his voice from heaven...

At that moment, he heard the noise of cars parking.

The man made his way to the front door, and saw Bernard Petit and Luidi leaving their SUV with three men tied up and blindfolded.

The other men of the Lecomte Group who had attended the meeting were also with them.

Duncan guided his subordinates to the basement and instructed them to put the directors on the chairs.

He watched the directors protest as they were chained.

When the Petits finally broke up, Duncan took away the directors' sales.

They looked at him, and Duncan wondered what was going on in their minds.

They were being kidnapped by their boss, and that made no sense, even gagged they protested, Duncan raised his hand and dismissed his men.

I wanted to be alone with your prisoners.

Duncan took the gag from the man who by photo, recognized as Durand.

" Boss what it means..."

Duncan slapped him, drawing blood from his mouth.

That made him think he should listen.

Valois, over the confused and terrified gaze of the directors walked to a table full of painful tools, he saw them scream in protest.

But Duncan was far removed from the man he had been, that man had been killed by that company, for money and power.

Now he was a ghost occupying the body of his competitor, a shadow of what once was.

He turned to the men and asked:

" Why did they set the explosion?"

When they looked at each other, Duncan Valois advanced with the pointed tool, and cut off the finger of one of them.

The basement was filled with terrified screams, and all Duncan could think as he watched the blood gush and the others scream was that he wouldn’t stop until he had his answers.

All of them.

An hour later, Duncan Valois climbed the basement stairs, bathed in the blood of his enemies, killed by his hands.

Now his soul was stained with the blood of those men, and his heart was far from free from torment.

He plunged into darkness, where he could no longer get out, and the confession of the directors drove him mad.

" Boss? Need help? " asked Bernard Petit, he and his son were eager to help him, before all the blood on the face of François Lecomte.

Duncan always got loyalty from his subordinates, now he got fear from them, and didn’t care.

He was too far away from who ever was.

" Get rid of the bodies, Bernard. " Ordered.

Duncan no longer looked at his men, leaving them to settle the fate of the bodies in their basement.

He walked in slow steps, up the stairs.

As if in a dream, he opened the bedroom door and headed to the bathroom.

This time he did not cover the mirror, and stared into the eyes of François Lecomte.

In his mind the confessions of the directors hammered, repeating themselves ever higher and more painful.

"It was the spy who helped us, someone from the Empire Group itself proposed the deal"

The men said, however, the traitor acted by intermediaries, insignificant people...

Someone from his own company had allied with the Lecomte Group to carry out the explosion.

Duncan knew that it would not be easy to find out who was the mastermind, however, he had nothing left but revenge.

He stared at the bloody reflection of François Lecomte, and heard again the painful cries of the men he left in pieces in the basement.

Duncan didn’t regret it.

Because they took everything from him, not just his life, but who he was.

Suddenly he thought of Rosalie, and how she would disgust him for her actions.

He wouldn’t let himself cry.