Chapter 6 - The Injunction
The unknown notification on my phone screen wasn’t from an ordinary legal clerk. It was an emergency filing executed by a boutique litigation firm downtown, bearing a name I recognized instantly: Harrison & Cross. They were the legal bulldogs my father had kept on retainer for corporate defense, charging astronomical hourly rates that had once made me wince when I reviewed their service invoices.
Marcus Vance appeared in my doorway a moment later, his tablet in hand and his expression tight with frustration.
“You might want to look at this, Liv,” he said, stepping into the office and tossing the tablet onto my desk. “Julian didn't just sit back and watch the company implode. He used his remaining authority as outgoing CEO to sign an emergency standstill agreement, backed by a personal injunction.”
I picked up the tablet, scrolling through the dense legal jargon. My stomach twisted. “On what grounds?”
“Fraudulent inducement during the Apex acquisition,” Marcus explained, pulling up a chair. “He’s claiming that you used your insider knowledge of family corporate accounts to orchestrate a hostile buyout, and that Streamline’s proprietary data-compression code was developed using Williams Logistics hardware and infrastructure back when you were working out of your parents' guest house during your first year.”
I stared at him, the absurdity of the claim striking me like physical force. “I haven't set foot in that guest house in five years. I built Streamline on a scavenged server in a studio apartment where the radiator leaked every time it snowed.”
“Legally, it doesn't matter whether it's true right now,” Marcus said grimly. “The injunction freezes the final disbursement of the cash transfer pending an evidentiary hearing. Until this is resolved, Apex's legal team has advised us to put a temporary hold on the operational integration.”
I gripped the edge of the desk. Julian was fighting dirty, weaponizing the very legal system our father had taught him to manipulate. He knew he was facing federal audit and criminal conspiracy charges, so he was trying to drag me down into the mud with him, using a fabricated IP claim to choke off my capital and force me back to the bargaining table.
“When is the hearing?” I asked.
“Forty-eight hours,” Marcus replied. “Judge Sterling’s courtroom. And here’s the kicker: your father isn't listed as a plaintiff on this injunction. It's solely under Julian’s name. Which means your father didn't authorize it—Julian is acting completely on his own accord, desperate to salvage his lifestyle before the creditors strip his name from the title deeds.”
I stood up, walking over to the window. The rain had stopped, leaving the city streets slick and gleaming under the late-afternoon sun. Julian thought he could corner me, thought he could use the courts to squeeze me until I gave in and bailed him out. He thought I was still the powerless younger sister standing in the drawing room waiting for permission to speak.
“Get our IP forensic team on the line,” I told Marcus, my voice cold and steady. “Pull every server log, every cloud commit history, and every hardware purchase receipt from my first year of development.”
“What are you planning to do?” Marcus asked.
May you like
“Julian wants to make this about who built what,” I said, turning to face him. “Let's show the court exactly what my father's golden boy was doing while I was writing code.”
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