Callahan gives Lennox a look. Lennox steps forward and places a prepared document on the table.
"Mr. Sloan, here are the documents we've drawn up. Please take a look."
Callahan's gaze sweeps coolly past Josiah before locking onto Hackett's eager face. He enunciates every word. "My condition is simple. The Sloan family will issue a public statement formally disowning Leilani. From this day forward, you sever all ties with her completely. You go your way, and she goes hers. No more connections. Ever."
Hackett and Josiah both freeze. A flash of shock crosses their faces, and they look like they want to argue.
Callahan doesn't give them the chance to form a single excuse.
Leaning back in his chair, he taps his fingers rhythmically against the polished table. He stares at Hackett's calculating face, a faint, ice-cold smirk playing on his lips.
"You don't need to look so conflicted, Mr. Sloan."
His voice is steady, laced with just the right amount of mock sympathy, but every word hits like an ice-tipped needle. "This condition should be incredibly easy for the Sloan family."
He pauses, his gaze dragging over father and son. His tone is soft, yet completely devastating. "After all, we're talking about a daughter you abandoned a long time ago. A daughter you personally helped send to prison. Whether you officially cut ties or not makes absolutely no difference to you, does it?"
The conference room plunges into dead silence.
Hackett's face flushes a deep, humiliated red. Callahan's merciless honesty hits him right in his most hypocritical nerve. He opens his mouth, but no words come out. He looks pathetic.
Callahan takes in Hackett's reaction, the disdain in his eyes deepening. Yet his face remains a mask of cold, corporate indifference, as if he's merely stating the obvious.
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