Page 92 of The Hunter's Empire

"I've spent forty years watching people inherit power. Some were capable of carrying it. Most weren't. The common mistake they all made was believing leadership meant sitting safely behind a desk while other people assumed the risks."

His gaze remains fixed on me. "The reports make it very clear that you chose a different approach."

A faint crease appears between his brows. "You walked into the situation yourself." The statement is simple. Yet somehow it carries more weight than a speech.

Before I can respond, Conrad speaks next. "What impressed me wasn't the operation itself." He taps the folder in front of him. "It was the outcome."

I raise an eyebrow.

Conrad opens the folder and glances briefly at the contents before looking back up. "What happened in Ireland is already becoming the kind of story people tell in private rooms." He says. "The Keegans spent decades making themselves untouchable."

A faint shake of his head follows. "Do you have any idea how many people spend entire careers trying to obtain information like that?"

"I imagine quite a few."

"Most fail. But you didn't."

The room remains quiet. Nobody rushes to speak over him. Nobody dismisses what he said. That alone feels strange.

For a moment, neither of us says anything. Then Roman nods once. A simple gesture. But somehow it feels more meaningful than any lengthy speech.

Across the table, Elena closes the file she has been reading. The soft sound immediately draws everyone's attention. Elena has spent the last few months questioning nearly every major decision I've made. She is brilliant, ruthless, and almost impossible to impress.

When she finally speaks, her voice is calm. "Do you know why we fought you so hard?"

The question catches me completely off guard. I glance around the table. No one seems surprised she asked it.

"No."

Elena studies me for several seconds before answering. "Because you inherited authority."

The room remains silent.

"Authority is easy." Her fingers rest lightly on the closed folder before her. "Titles can be inherited. Positions can be inherited. Wealth can be inherited." Her gaze never leaves mine. "Trust can't."

The words settle heavily over the room.

"We knew you were intelligent." She continues. "We knew you were educated and understood business. None of those things were ever the problem. We didn't know whether you would run toward difficult decisions or away from them."

The honesty of the answer catches me off guard. For years, I assumed they simply wanted me gone. Apparently the reality was more complicated.

Elena's expression softens slightly. "Walking into the Keegan estate yourself answered that question."

The atmosphere in the room shifts after that. The discussion moves on to strategy, operations, and the opportunities now sitting in front of us, but for the first time, nobody questions whether I belong at the head of the table.

By the time the meeting finally ends and the advisors begin gathering their documents, the boardroom feels very differentfrom the one I walked into. One by one, the advisors gather their documents and make their way toward the door.

Magnus pauses briefly before leaving. "You did well." Then they're gone.

The door closes behind the last of them, leaving me alone in the suddenly quiet boardroom. For a long moment, I remain seated at the head of the table. I should feel victorious.

For months, this is exactly what I fought for. Their trust. Their respect. Their belief that I belonged here. For the first time since returning home, I finally have everything I wanted.

By the time I return to my office, I should feel accomplished. The Ireland operation was a success. The Keegan files secured our future, and for the first time since dad's death, the advisors finally acknowledged my leadership.

Yet none of it manages to quiet the restless feeling sitting in my chest. My thoughts drift briefly to Roisin, wondering whether she made it out safely. Inevitably, they drift to someone else as well. A masked man who vanished without a goodbye.

I force myself to stop before I disappear down that path again. Fortunately, my phone chooses that exact moment to ring.