The Janitor Who Owned the Casino: Nobody Kneels in My Building

Two security guards ripped the executive badge off Julian's lapel with brutal efficiency. The fabric tore, buttons scattering across the marble floor. Julian dropped to his knees—this time without being told.

"Please," he begged, his voice cracking. "I didn't know. I swear I didn't know."

Viktor looked down at him with cold, unblinking eyes. "You knew he was sixty-six years old. You knew he was on his knees. You knew he was a human being."

Sophie pressed her face into her grandfather's hip, her small fingers gripping the coarse fabric of his coveralls.

"But Grandpa," she whispered, "why do you work here if you own it?"

Viktor's face softened for a moment. He knelt down, bringing himself to her eye level.

"Because I needed to find the people who took your father," he said gently. "The ones who run the illegal operations under this casino. I had to get close to them."

Julian's eyes went wide. "I don't know anything about that. I'm just a businessman—"

"You're a pawn," Viktor cut him off. "But you're a useful one. You've been laundering money through the casino's accounts for the past four years. You thought no one noticed the discrepancies in the high-roller suite bookings."

Julian opened his mouth to deny it, but nothing came out.

Viktor stood up, pulling Sophie with him. "Captain Thorne, arrest him for embezzlement and accessory to kidnapping. And then bring me the list of every employee who has ever worked in the private gaming room on the fifth floor."

Thorne nodded, a grim smile crossing his face. "It's already on your desk, Chairman."

Sophie looked up at her grandfather with new eyes. "So you're not really a janitor?"

"I'm whatever I need to be," Viktor said, his voice softening. "But I'm always your grandfather first."

As the guards dragged Julian away—screaming, crying, begging for mercy—Viktor led Sophie toward the private elevator that would take them to the penthouse suite. The board members who had been watching from the shadows emerged, bowing as he passed.

"Chairman," one of them said, "the shareholders are requesting an emergency meeting. They want to know how this could have happened under your watch."

Viktor didn't break stride. "Tell them the chairman was doing his job. Now I'm doing mine."

The elevator doors slid open. Sophie stepped inside, her yellow sundress bright against the gold-trimmed walls.

"Grandpa," she said, "does this mean we can have pizza for dinner?"

Viktor laughed—a deep, genuine laugh that echoed through the foyer. "Anything you want, sweetheart. Anything at all."