American Medicine God: Starting by Inheriting a Pharmaceutical Company and Selling Medicine

Enzo disappeared into the shadows. The door was gently pushed open.

Katie came in.

She wore a Chanel suit with a gold brooch pinned to her chest, a symbol of her status as a senator's wife. Although her makeup was exquisite and perfect, Victor still keenly caught a hint of anxiety and unease deep in her eyes.

She is no longer the sales manager who led cheerleaders to clinics to sell painkillers; now, she is the wife of a promising senator and a rising star in Washington's social circles.

But in Victor's presence, she was still like a frightened fawn.

"Enzo is cleaning up the board." Katie closed the door, her voice low. "Henry's out, and George's been caught red-handed. Victor, who's next? Me?"

She walked to the desk, leaning slightly forward. Her beautiful eyes were filled with fear—fear of power, and fear of being abandoned.

"At the party outside, Sofia was entertaining the guests like a real queen." Katie's voice trembled slightly. "She's your fiancée, a Sicilian, your 'family.' And me? I'm just a pawn you can sacrifice at any time, right? Just like how you made me marry that idiot senator."

Victor put down his pen.

He looked quietly at Katie, the woman who had once shared cold pizza with him in the office.

"Do you think I'm trying to eliminate dissidents?" Victor retorted calmly.

"Isn't that right?" Katie's voice trembled with emotion. "You're turning Walter into a fortress, a fortress only the Corleone family can enter. Saul is your legal glove, Enzo is your private army, and Sophia is your other half. And what am I? An outsider? A feared ex-girlfriend who knows too much? Or a dispensable secret lover?"

She walked around the desk, went to Victor's side, squatted down, and looked up at the man she had loved her whole life.

"Victor, I'm scared. I'm not scared of losing the money, I'm scared of losing... your trust."

A brief silence fell over the room. Only the black cat jumped off the table and landed silently on the carpet.

Victor reached out and gently stroked Katie's carefully styled long hair.

"You know what, Katie. During those months I was recovering in Sicily, I thought about one thing every single day."

Victor's voice was deep and magnetic, like some kind of ancient incantation.

"I was thinking, if I didn't come back, if I died in that explosion, who would shed a tear for me? Who would take the opportunity to divide my inheritance?"

Katie's body trembled slightly.

"Back then, many people betrayed me. But you didn't." Victor's fingers traced her cheek, lingering on her chin, gently lifting her face. "You still sent Congressional updates to that dead mailbox every week, you still protected Walter's interests. Even though everyone said Victor Corleone was a dead man back then."

"I..." Katie's eyes reddened, "I just..."

“That’s the answer,” Victor interrupted her. “Blood ties aren’t just about DNA, Katie. In this family, loyalty is blood ties.”

He leaned down and gently kissed her forehead.

"Sophia is my shield; she's responsible for displaying our glory in the sunlight. And you, Katie, you are my dagger. You're responsible for cutting open the veins of power for me in those glamorous tea parties, in the pillows of those senators."

Victor's voice became seductive: "You're not an outsider. You're part of the Corleone family. You don't need to envy Sophia, because in this room, in this dark corner, you possess something she could never have—my past."

Katie's eyes were glazed over.

The fear and unease she had felt moments before vanished in the sound of Victor's words, replaced by a morbid fervor and attachment. She didn't need marriage, she didn't need a formal title; all she needed was a word of affirmation from this man.

This is a bond that is stronger, yet more twisted, than love.

"Alright." Victor patted her shoulder, as if soothing an obedient cat. "Wipe your tears. Your senator husband is still waiting for you outside. Go tell those gentlemen in Washington that Walter Pharmaceuticals not only has the best painkillers, but also the most generous friends."

Katie stood up. She straightened her skirt and took a deep breath. When she looked up again, she had the perfect, professional smile of a politician's wife on her face.

"Yes, Victor," she said softly, her eyes filled with submission.

She turned and walked toward the door, her steps firm and graceful.

The door opened.

The clamor outside instantly rushed in. In the brightly lit hall, Sofia was chatting and laughing with a federal judge. When she saw Katie come out, Sofia didn't show any hostility; instead, she smiled and raised her glass in a toast.

Katie responded with a smile.

In that moment, the two women reached a tacit understanding. They were both part of this vast empire, revolving around the same sun.

Katie walked into the crowd and was instantly surrounded by compliments and smiles.

Enzo had already reached the door at some point.

He looked at Victor and bowed slightly in greeting. As an observer of this scene, he knew better than anyone that what had just happened showed the Godfather not only conquering his enemies but also completely subduing those around him.

Victor sat in the shadows, looking out at the glamorous world outside the door.

That was his hunting ground, and also his kingdom.

Enzo reached out and grasped the doorknob.

Victor's gaze pierced through the narrowing crack in the door, taking one last look at the bustling world—Sophia's social graces, Katie's adeptness at navigating social situations, and those greedy and foolish nobles.

He slowly retreated, back into the deep darkness of the study.

His face was expressionless, and his eyes were unfathomable. No one knew what Victor was really thinking after nearly dying!

With a soft "click".

The heavy mahogany door closed slowly in Enzo's hands.

The last ray of light disappeared.

Light was shut out.

The Godfather remained in the darkness.