The Shadow Tycoon
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 57
If Jorgreman simply did not know that Johnson was about to introduce some insignificant nobody to him, then Johnson himself, seated beside William at this moment, wore the expression of a man who had just eaten shit.
There was disgust in it, nausea, regret, a petty temper he could not quite name, and open contempt across his whole face.
By all rights, how could a Tax Bureau Director possibly introduce important connections to a small figure like William, especially after William had just landed a punch on him, one that had left the entire tax system uneasy from top to bottom?
Michael in particular. As early as last night, word had already come down from the state office. Given the current pressure of public opinion, those above had decided to abandon Michael.
During the conference call, the highest-ranking official at the state office repeatedly stated the leadership’s position. It was not that the higher-ups abandoned their subordinates the moment trouble appeared. They had never done such a thing, and disdained doing it.
The IRS, when it fought head-on, even had the army at its disposal. It had never known what begging for mercy meant. But if the men below had filthy asses of their own, and the higher-ups still could not wipe them clean even after trying, then they had no right to complain that those above were cruel.
Earlier, they had given Johnson certain hints, urging him to make William’s criminal identity stick as quickly as possible. That was what the Sabine City IRS itself had said, that William might be a criminal, and the man who had first entertained that thought was Michael.
A man like Director Johnson believed William might not be entirely clean, but from the present standpoint William clearly had committed no crime at all. That included the company books. When they took William away, they had inspected the entire warehouse as well and found nothing abnormal.
The main reason public sentiment was boiling over now was precisely because William himself was innocent. Combined with the earlier clashes with law enforcement, mainly on the FBI side, plus certain people fanning the flames, matters had been driven into the state they were in today.
If William could be turned into a criminal, then the vast majority of ordinary people would lose their sense of identification with him. The Federal Reserve loved to boast that it was a nation of human rights, but plainly enough, people’s attitude toward criminals had very little to do with human rights.
Attitude determined the direction and future of events. Seeking justice for a criminal was something even the stupid masses would not do.
And yet a full week had passed. The Sabine City IRS had joined forces with the Federation FBI. The two strongest departments in the Federation had acted together, and still they had failed to find even the slightest way to add the label criminal to William’s name.
That left the middle and upper ranks of the IRS both humiliated and enraged. If the people below could not even handle something this small, then what exactly were they capable of doing well?
Of course, the two institutions were not entirely to blame. Society’s eyes were all fixed on William now. If there were even the slightest mistake in the process of nailing him as a criminal, then the current situation could become even more disadvantageous.
So during the conference call they made it clear, since Michael could no longer be saved, then abandon him. Besides, both the Sabine City IRS and Michael himself had to bear some responsibility for all this.
First, the Sabine City IRS had shown itself incompetent. Second, Michael himself had too many problems. He had a bad temper, and he often exploded at work. It did not matter whether the person in front of him was an outsider or one of his own people, once his temper rose, it burst at once.
This uproar in public opinion also had much to do with Michael himself. Without any evidence pointing to William at all, he had directly identified him as a criminal suspect and injured him multiple times, producing such an ugly result. He would have to pay for his own actions.
At the same time, the state office also expressed the hope that the Sabine City IRS would soothe the victim’s emotions. Since they had no way to knock William flat with a single blow, then they would stand shoulder to shoulder with him instead. At the very least, they had to claw back a little of their public image.
Dignity?
Sorry, the IRS was an important institution of the Federation. What did the honor or disgrace of an individual amount to?
Beyond that, the higher-ups had already held meetings to push another explanation, and it happened to line up exactly with what William had told Director Johnson earlier at the grill shop.
Since the middle and upper ranks had decided to make Michael carry the blame, they would make him carry it without a single seam out of place, tailor-made, leaving him no chance to turn things around. If the people below could not even cooperate properly in this matter, then the ones to be abandoned would be the entire leadership of the Sabine City IRS.