The Shadow Tycoon
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 58: Ten Minutes Early
Jorgreman had deliberately arrived ten minutes early.
Part of it was simple professional courtesy.
The other part was self-preservation.
He had no desire to give Johnson any opportunity to corner him.
He didn’t want to offend the Tax Bureau Director, but neither did he want to appear overly friendly. The tax system had been drowning in controversy lately, and avoiding unnecessary association with Johnson was probably the safest course of action.
What he hadn’t expected was a third person.
And somehow, the man looked vaguely familiar.
Jorgreman didn’t waste mental energy memorizing the faces of insignificant people. The flicker of recognition passed through his mind and vanished just as quickly. A warm smile appeared on his face instead, the sort of smile that made it seem as though he and Johnson, along with the stranger, were all old friends.
After the handshakes and introductions, he finally learned who the man was.
His eyebrow twitched.
He had assumed these two should have been mortal enemies.
Yet judging from their demeanor, things were clearly more complicated than the newspapers suggested.
Which meant the story behind the recent scandal likely contained layers the public knew nothing about.
The conversation began with the usual subjects: the weather, the economy, and the increasingly sluggish market.
Originally, Johnson was only supposed to introduce William and then excuse himself.
Now he found himself unwilling to leave.
It wasn’t because he thought there was anything particularly fascinating about the two men.
It was the slip of paper in his pocket.
The thing weighed on his mind.
He couldn’t decide what to do with it.
Part of him wanted to wait until William and Jorgreman finished talking so he could speak with William privately afterward.
As he sat there listening, he found himself gradually accepting some of William’s reasoning.
Michael’s wife had never worked.
His son would be released sometime during the first half of next year.
There was the house.
The bills.
The expenses.
Everything required money.
And money was exactly what they lacked.
Once Michael was gone, the family’s income would vanish completely.
According to the IRS Legal Advisory Panel, Michael was likely facing no less than three years in prison.
The fact that he had knowingly violated the law while serving as a law-enforcement official was one of the primary factors increasing his potential sentence.
A household without income couldn’t survive indefinitely.
The guilt gnawing at Johnson made him want to do something.
Anything.
And because of that, the money suddenly seemed to have value.
He had even managed to convince himself it wasn’t a bribe.
After all, the money wasn’t for him.
While he was wrestling with those thoughts, William suddenly spoke.
“Director Johnson, didn’t you say you had something important to take care of?”
Johnson blinked and looked at him.
Several seconds passed before he realized what had been said.
“Ah ... right. Yes. I do have something to take care of...”
William had made the meaning perfectly clear.
Staying any longer was no longer an option.
Johnson stood, offered his apologies to both men, and departed with obvious reluctance.
Jorgreman watched him leave and found himself even more puzzled than before.
What exactly was the purpose of this meeting?
He couldn’t figure it out.
Still, if Johnson was willing to endorse it personally, he would treat the meeting seriously.
“Mr. Jorgreman,” William began, “as you know, I’m a businessman.”
Jorgreman nodded.
He knew exactly who William was.
The newspapers had made certain of that.
William continued.
“I have a few ventures that require additional capital.”
By that point, Jorgreman thought he understood everything.
Whatever strange relationship existed between William and Johnson was irrelevant.
In the end, William wanted money.
Nothing more.
That was neither difficult nor simple.
The corners of Jorgreman’s mouth curled upward ever so slightly.
It was the same expression he wore when small business owners sat across from him pleading for loans.
Polite.
Reserved.
Quietly superior.
“How much are you looking for?”
“As much as possible.”
William pulled a document case from behind his chair.
The answer drew a chuckle from Jorgreman.
“Everyone says that. But surely you understand we have policies.”
He smiled lightly.
“Out of respect for Director Johnson, I can approve an unsecured loan of five thousand dollars.”
Unsecured lending had not yet been rolled out on a large scale.
The six major banks remained extremely cautious about it.
The purpose of the program was to help stimulate the Federation’s sluggish economy.
After economic growth slowed more than two years earlier, problems had appeared everywhere.
The President’s Cabinet and the leadership of the six major banks had spent nearly a year designing experimental measures to address them.
One of those measures involved offering unsecured personal loans to help people through difficult periods while simultaneously lowering borrowing costs and encouraging economic activity.
Five thousand dollars wasn’t an extraordinary amount.
Even if William defaulted, Jorgreman could personally cover the loss.
He would earn Johnson’s goodwill and place the director in his debt.
From Jorgreman’s perspective, it wasn’t a bad deal.
William neither accepted nor rejected the offer.
Instead, he removed several mortgage agreements from his case and slid them across the table.
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