Chapter 10 - The Executive Ultimatum
The executive floor was bathed in the soft, blue glow of midnight city lights filtering through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows. I walked steadily down the quiet corridor toward the corner office that had once belonged to Julian, but now belonged to me.
I bypassed the main desk, walked straight to the secure wall safe behind the mahogany shelving unit, and keyed in my father's master biometric override code.
The heavy steel door swung open smoothly.
Inside sat a locked, fireproof lockbox containing my father’s personal dossier on Vanguard Holdings’ early illicit acquisitions—evidence of stock manipulation and corporate blackmail dating back over a decade. Julian never knew this safe existed. David Sterling certainly didn't know it survived.
I lifted the heavy leather-bound dossier from the safe, set it on the desk, and opened it to the first page.
My desk phone blinked with a silent internal message indicator. I tapped the speaker button, and David Sterling’s smooth, corporate voice filled the empty office.
“Evelyn... I trust you had a pleasant evening in the garage,” David’s voice purred with oily confidence. “Julian was always too soft to handle you. But accidents happen in parking structures every day. If you sign over the remaining voting proxies to Vanguard by eight o'clock tomorrow morning, the harassment stops. If you don't... well, let's just say the board will be attending another tragic funeral.”
I leaned down close to the receiver, letting a cold, humorless smile touch my lips.
May you like
“David,” I said softly, my voice carrying clearly across the speakerphone. “You sent two amateurs to do a soldier’s job. One of them is currently sleeping in the sub-basement. And I am looking at your original insider-trading confessions right now.”
The line went dead silent on the other end.
