Chapter 6 - The Unspoken Truth
The library doors clicked shut, leaving an absolute, breathless silence in the room. The remaining department heads sat frozen, staring straight ahead, terrified to make a sound.
Vincent adjusted his cuffs, his expression impassive.
"The rest of you," Vincent said, his voice dropping to a calm, deadly quiet, "have twenty-four hours to review every pending operational and medical request sitting in your respective queues. If I find one more instance of bureaucratic cruelty masquerading as policy, you will join Mr. Vance on the sidewalk outside."
He turned to Samuel Wilson. "Samuel, stay. The rest of you are dismissed."
Within thirty seconds, the room emptied out like a leaking ship. Only Vincent, Daniel, and Samuel remained.
Samuel let out a long, ragged breath, running a hand over his tired face. "Well," Samuel muttered, "that certainly clears up the administrative backlog."
Vincent walked over to the tall windows, looking out across the impeccably manicured lawns toward the employee quarters. "It is entirely unacceptable, Samuel. How long were you going to let her suffer in silence before screaming at me?"
"She wouldn't let me make a fuss, Mr. Graves," Samuel replied softly, a faint smile touching his lips despite the tension. "Stubbornest kid I've ever met. Every time I offered to escalate her case past HR, she told me she didn't want charity, and she didn't want special treatment because of her disability. She said she wanted to earn her place here fair and square."
Vincent turned back around, folding his arms. "She has earned it a hundred times over. Which is why we are going to fix this permanently."
"What do you have in mind, boss?" Daniel asked, stepping forward.
"First, we are bypassing HR entirely," Vincent instructed. "Contact the top orthopedic and bio-mechanical engineering clinic in Boston. I want their lead specialist flown down to Charlotte on my private jet by tomorrow morning. Not a standard replacement leg—the absolute pinnacle of modern bio-mechanical engineering. Articulated microprocessors, neural-link calibration, carbon-fiber socket. The kind of tech elite athletes use."
Daniel blinked, surprised. "That's going to cost well over a hundred thousand dollars, sir."
"Consider it an investment in estate efficiency," Vincent replied dryly. "And second... I want to promote Annie Carter."
Samuel raised an eyebrow. "Promote her to what? Head housekeeper?"
"No," Vincent said, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips. "She's studying engineering technology, isn't she? Our estate automation systems, smart-security infrastructure, and central logistics network are due for a complete system overhaul. Create a new position: Director of Estate Systems and Infrastructure. Move her office to the main administrative wing, triple her salary, and give her a full scholarship grant to finish her degree at Charlotte Technical Institute."
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Samuel stared at him in stunned silence for a moment before bursting out with a deep, booming laugh. "Good lord, Vincent. You don't do things by halves, do you?"
"When I find competence in a world full of cowards," Vincent said, turning back to the window, "I secure it."
