Chapter 7 - THE TIDE TURNS
The boardroom descended into absolute chaos.
Arthur Vance and three other board members snapped open the black binders in front of them, their hands shaking as they scanned the detailed banking records, transaction hashes, and cross-referenced shipping manifests.
“Is this true, Victor?!” Vance demanded, turning his head toward Sterling, his voice rising in panic. “Did you illegally short-sell our own stock using non-public operational data?!”
Sterling’s face turned into a mask of pure ice. He slowly pushed the binder away, standing up from his chair. He towering over the table, trying to use his physical size to intimidate the room.
“This girl is playing games,” Sterling hissed, pointing at me. “These documents are unverified! She is trying to throw up a smokescreen to cover the fact that her own father is suing her for corporate theft!”
“The SEC doesn't consider verified bank routing codes to be a game, Mr. Sterling,” Anthony Carile spoke up from behind my shoulder, holding up an official federal confirmation notice. “Federal investigators opened a formal insider trading and market manipulation inquiry two hours ago. Subpoenas for Vanguard Apex’s executive emails have already been issued.”
Sterling froze. The color drained slightly from his tight jawline.
I stood up slowly, resting both hands flat on the polished conference table, leaning forward just enough to look Victor Sterling directly in the eyes.
“As the majority owner holding fifty-one percent of all voting shares in Lel Maritime Holdings,” I said, each word precise and unyielding, “I am exercising my legal right to immediately remove you from this board for gross conflict of interest and corporate sabotage.”
I turned my gaze to the rest of the board members.
“Any member of this board who attempts to block this motion will be named as a co-conspirator in the SEC investigation, and their personal trading accounts will be subject to an immediate audit.”
Three board members who had been whispering amongst themselves instantly sat back down, lowering their heads. Arthur Vance swallowed hard, looking down at the financial evidence in front of him, and then slowly raised his hand.
“I second the motion to remove Mr. Sterling,” Vance said quietly, his voice trembling.
One by one, six other board members slowly raised their hands.
Sterling stared at the raised hands in disbelief. His grand plan to hijack a $2.4 billion empire had collapsed in less than twenty minutes at the hands of a woman his associate had called a 'quiet little pencil pusher.'
He slowly gathered his coat, adjusting his silk tie with sharp, violent movements. He leaned over the table toward me, his voice dropping into a low, vicious whisper that only I could hear.
“You think you’re smart, Kelly,” Sterling whispered, his eyes burning with intense malice. “You think a few spreadsheets make you untouchable? Your father is desperate. He owes fifty million dollars to people far worse than me. And when desperate men lose everything... they don't call lawyers. They take what they want by force.”
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“My father had thirty years to build something real,” I whispered back, my voice unwavering. “Instead, he built a house of cards. Tell him I said the wind is coming.”
Sterling stared at me for three long seconds, realizing he couldn't break my resolve, before turning around and storming out of the boardroom, his heavy footsteps echoing down the corridor.
