Chapter 8 - THE BOARDROOM PURGE
================================================================================
None of the seven men dared breathe. The silence in the room was suffocating.
"Three weeks ago," Victoria began, her voice ringing out like a judge delivering a death sentence, "an anonymous whistleblower alerted me that someone inside my executive committee was quietly transferring Vance logistics contracts to a shell firm based in Panama."
She slid four files across the table toward Miller, the audit chair. Miller opened the first file, his hands shaking so violently the paper rattled.
"That shell firm," Victoria continued, "is owned entirely by Elena Ross. Julian’s mistress. And the officer who authorized the fraudulent contract bypass wasn't Julian."
She turned her head slowly, fixing her icy gaze directly on Thomas Sterling.
"It was you, Thomas."
Sterling swallowed hard, sweat beading along his receding hairline. "Victoria, you don't understand! Julian threatened to expose my offshore tax filings! He forced my hand! I had no idea he was trying to poison you!"
"Poison?" Victoria arched an eyebrow, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "I never mentioned poison, Thomas. How did you know about the digitalis?"
Sterling’s jaw dropped open. He looked around the table desperately, but every single board member looked away, staring at the table or out the panoramic windows. He was completely, utterly isolated.
"Marcus," Victoria said, never breaking eye contact with Sterling.
"The SEC and the FBI are currently downstairs in the lobby," Marcus Kane announced, checking his pocket watch. "They have search warrants for every server on the 50th, 51st, and 52nd floors. And Mr. Sterling, your personal laptop in office 5204 has already been cloned."
Sterling slumped back against the credenza, his face pale and slack. "You're going to destroy the company. If this goes public, the stock plunges forty percent by morning bell!"
Victoria leaned in closer, a terrifyingly serene smile spreading across her lips.
"The stock can drop sixty percent, Thomas. I have forty billion dollars in cash reserves waiting in Zurich to buy back every single outstanding share at pennies on the dollar. By noon tomorrow, Vance Enterprises will be fully private. And you will be wearing an orange jumpsuit."
She stood up straight, brushing imaginary lint from her blazer.
"Get him out of my sight."
Two security guards seized Sterling by the elbows, dragging him toward the private elevator while he sputtered incoherent apologies.
Victoria turned to the remaining six board members. "Gentlemen. You have sixty seconds to sign your voluntary resignations. Otherwise, Marcus will ensure your names are listed as unindicted co-conspirators in the federal indictment."
Pens began scratching across paper before she even finished her sentence.
Suddenly, her private phone buzzed on the table. A text from an unknown hospital number:
May you like
URGENT: Julian Vance escaped transport van on 42nd Street. Suspect is armed and heading uptown.
================================================================================
