Chapter 25 ~ Finally Understand
Lex stared morosely into the unlit fireplace, trying to retrace the steps that had led to the reckless decision he'd made at the meeting about five hours ago. It was a little after midnight now and he was already six drinks into a fresh bottle of scotch.
It was all her fault, really. She'd messed with his mind. A sensible businessman would never have made the decision to settle a lawsuit in a fashion that stood to cost him dearly and create losses in the millions, if not billions when viewed in the context of future projects.
But then why wasn't he pulling out his phone to wake up his lawyer, make him stop the settlement, and proceed with the lawsuit as planned?
In the end, the answer was remarkably simple. He had finally figured out who this mysterious man was; this other Lex, whom Chloe loved more than her life.
He was the guy that would grant an interview to a high school kid, because a friend asked him to. He was the green behind the ears business man that would buy an underproductive plant to save a handful of small-town employees from losing their jobs. He was the wanna-do-good guy that got into business with a college freshman so she could save her dead parents' favorite hang-out spot and turn it into a tacky coffee-shop for the local youth that barely turned enough profit to stay afloat. He was the guy that had his best friend lie to his face, over and over again, and still covered up the other boy's secrets to protect him and prevent him from being exposed. He was Lex Luthor before his father's empire shaped him into the man that sat staring into an unlit fireplace today.
The irony of it all made him chuckle out loud and shake his head at himself. Lex had strived so hard to be a great man, the greatest man he could be for her. And here she had loved the one that he considered a loser all along.
His chuckle turned into a throaty, broken laugh as he kept shaking his head. He didn't realize that tears had started to stream out of the corners of his eyes until his cheeks felt wet when he wiped a hand over his face to cover his mouth.
Lex didn't realize how long he sat there, staring into the unlit fireplace until he noticed the sun come up over the horizon and tint everything around him in a warm orange glow. By the time the entire living room was flooded with sunlight, he had finally come to terms with what he needed to do.
He got up slowly and walked over to the large panorama window to look out over the city, taking stock of every building that was owned by LexCorp, every car that was manufactured by a subsidiary of LexCorp, every utility vehicle and service truck that had the LexCorp logo stamped onto it in bold purple color.
Even though he'd never consciously thought about it before, it was now blatantly obvious.
Lex Luthor owned the city of Metropolis.
And now it was time to give it all back.