âYouâre dead to me,â he whispered.
Leo was the companyâs head of post-production. He was the quiet one, the loyal one, the one who had always put "Family First" by fixing his fatherâs messes. But now, Leo was crying. Around him, three lawyers in dark suits stood holding envelopes.
She left.
Arthur Pros leaned back in his leather chair, the Los Angeles skyline glittering behind him like a console of diamonds. As the CEO of Pros Entertainment, he had one rule carved into the mahogany wall of the boardroom: Family Always First. Family Always Comes First 14 -Porn Pros- -2024-...
A ruthless media mogul, who built an empire exploiting family drama for ratings, must choose between a billion-dollar merger and the daughter who is about to expose his biggest secret.
Tonight, his daughter, Maya, stood across from him. She wasnât the child heâd paraded on The Pros Junior Show twenty years ago. She was a razor-sharp documentary filmmaker, and she held a hard drive containing the rough cut of Bloodlines , her exposĂ© on how Pros Entertainment manufactured trauma for profit.
She looked back at the motto carved in wood. âYouâre dead to me,â he whispered
There sat his son, Leo.
âI already have a buyer, Dad,â Maya replied. âNetflix. Forty million. They love the footage of you telling those twins to fight over the inheritance on camera.â
Arthur froze.
âYou taught me something, Dad,â she said softly. âYou taught me that people like you always keep a backup plan hidden from the people they claim to love.â
âI would. I did.â Arthur stood up, walking to the window. âPros Entertainment is merging with GlobalStream in forty-eight hours. Your little exposĂ© would tank the stock price. And I wonât let that happen. Not when weâre so close to a ten-billion-dollar exit.â
Arthurâs smile didnât waver. He pressed a button on his desk. The wall screen flickered to life, showing a live feed from a sleek editing bay. But now, Leo was crying
âLeo didnât sign away the footage,â Maya continued. âThe lawyers were fakes. Actors. Cost me three grand. And while you were monologuing about your billion-dollar merger, Leo was streaming our conversation to every media outlet in the country.â