Lionel sat at his office desk, overlooking the skyline of Metropolis. It was after two in the morning, and there was a single-malt whiskey in his hand. He sipped it, whispering to himself, "mine, mine, mine- but he wants that one. And that other one. Two- can I stand to know that I've lost two?"
He hummed to himself, an old song from the 'mother country'. His nanny had taught him it, telling him tales of Luthors riding into battle on great war steeds, always victorious.
Maybe that had been the problem- his wife had insisted on raising Lex herself, the nanny was more for show. And Lex's nanny hadn't been from the old country, her family hadn't been serving the Luthors for years.
Perhaps a more classical education was in order for the new heir. He wouldn't be exposed to silly ideas- no playgroups, charity functions, or anything to distract him from the Luthor goal. No foolish ideals of 'I'm okay, You're okay' or any of that nonsense.
Lionel would get back to the basics with his new son.
He slammed back the last of his drink, fingertips brushing over the contract on his desk. Little Alex wanted his independence. He wanted his freedom- away from the sticky tendrils of his father's influence.
Lionel smirked- as if Little Lex could ever be free of him. Did the bald freak really think that a simple contract would keep Lionel from watching his every move? And the section on 'no supervision of employees, contract workers, or business partners'? It was a joke. Lex couldn't even hope to enforce that. The little boy had no idea how many cameras, microphones, and recording devices watched over him and his friends. Especially the Kents. He had even doubled their team after the last fiasco (that must have been to arrange this contract).
And Lionel wouldn't tell him- let's see if little Lex and his hick friends could see through the walls and find all the little toys Lionel had ordered to be installed.
Lionel picked up the contract, thumbing through the pages. No, that section of the contract was un-enforcable. And did Lex really think he'd give him the Grossman building? Not likely. Lionel picked up a pen, crossing out the building's name and address. No, how about the Sinclair building? The asbestos and plaster ceilings made any renovations expensive, and the older building's mechanical and electrical systems were vastly outdated.
Not to mention that the Sinclair Building was behind Luthor Tower, not in front where Lionel could easily see it everyday.
And… no, he couldn't have the old Oil and Gas Building either. Perhaps the Office Tower he had recently purchased in Gotham? LuthorCorp had gotten it half-finished for a steal, and the finish-out had been cheaply done for quick re-sale.
On paper these two buildings looked to be an equal trade. Lionel smiled, turning the page. Poured himself another shot, and laughed. Oh, he had read this before- but it made him want to chuckle every time.
Alexander Luthor wanted the fertilizer line. All of them- all five plants, from the four strung out across the mid-west from Ohio to eastern Colorado, and even the largest one in California. Lex had complained so bitterly about the 'crap factory' and now he wanted to keep it.
It was humorous. And short-sighted. Lionel had already bet millions of clandestine dollars on research for the next big breakthrough in agricultural chemicals, and lost. For all his time and efforts had not been able to discover one marketable product. Which meant that agri-chemicals remained a business of marginal product improvements. And unless your product was clearly superior over the others, you'd never gain a monopoly, and never get into large profits.
So if Lex took the line, then he'd never make the kind of money he was used to. Never be rolling in dough, never be a jet-setter like he was in his youth. He'd spend his life eking out an existence in the backwoods- no, back-fields- of Kansas. He'd probably even stay in Smallville.
A fitting end to his big dreams, Lionel thought. Heck- he'd even throw in the recently purchased Talon in Smallville as a 'going away gift'. The funds needed to either refurbish or level the building would quickly make the gift be an albatross around Alexander's neck. He added a note about adding the Talon, and re-stacked the papers.
He fingered the edges, thinking about the other conditions- twenty-five percent of the personnel from LuthorCorp security division. (Lex actually thought that he give him some of his operatives?!?! Lex would get the janitors and men two days from retirement!!!!) A beach house in Greece. And a floundering division of LuthorCorp Labs- medical technologies, something Alexander had only studied in passing. Lex probably meant to sell it off for quick cash, despite the boy's un-natural leanings towards all things scientific. The pages felt heavy under his hand.
Looked them over again, and dropped them on the fax machine.
It would be interesting to watch Lex squirm, when he realized he would never be free of his father. Never, ever.
Entertaining to watch him rot in the back end of nowhere, while his replacement was paraded around the world.
And it wouldn't hurt to get rid of him now, because no will would be iron-clad from the best lawyers. Not unless there was a fully-documented case against one child getting a dime. Lionel didn't want to leave a messy legal battle over inheritances for his new son, his true heir.
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Author's Notes:
I hope to get to parts talking about Jessica, the security teams, and some others soon.
And I think that this is believable for Lionel- I mean, normally, Lex getting some fertilizer plants and a broke company would mean that he'd be stuck in a dead-end for the rest of his life. And Lionel wanted to get rid of Lex. But I hope y'all caught the foreshadowing.