Chapter 5 - Shadows in the Boardroom
The executive boardroom on the fiftieth floor of the Vale Tower in Midtown Manhattan was a sea of flashing emergency lights and frantic whispers. Chief executives, majority shareholders, and high-ranking trustees paced behind the massive glass conference table, watching the live feeds of the Hudson estates go dark one by one.
"It's a hostile takeover of the most literal kind," hissed Victoria Vance, head of the Vale Energy Trust, her voice trembling as she clutched her tablet. "Our security forces at the main gates surrendered within minutes. The entire estate is occupied by... whatever those creatures are."
"And Marcus?" asked a nervous junior trustee. "Where is the King?"
The heavy mahogany double doors at the end of the boardroom clicked open. The room instantly fell into a suffocating, dead silence.
It wasn't Marcus Vale who walked through the doors.
Olivia Veyrith wore a coat of dark, tailored wool over a simple black dress, her hair pinned back, her golden eyes gleaming faintly in the dim lighting of the floor. Behind her walked Adrian, followed by two silent shadow guards whose armor seemed to swallow the ambient light of the skyscraper.
"He is currently recovering from his encounter with reality," Olivia said, stepping calmly into the center of the boardroom. She walked directly to the head of the table—the seat traditionally reserved for the reigning head of House Vale—and rested her hand on the polished mahogany surface.
"You... you cannot be here," Victoria stammered, standing up from her chair. "This is private corporate property! This building is protected by federal injunctions and—"
"This building sits on land seized from the Veyrith crown in violation of the ancient sovereign treaties," Olivia interrupted, her voice cutting through the executive's protests like a blade. She slid a single document across the table. It bore the newly stamped seal of the Northern Skies. "Every contract, every title, and every asset held by this corporation is null and void under international sovereign law."
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"You expect us to just hand over centuries of wealth?" shouted a senior board member, slamming his hands on the table. "We will fight you in every court in America! We will bankrupt you with litigation!"
Adrian stepped forward, the temperature in the boardroom dropping noticeably as frost began to form along the edges of the floor-to-ceiling windows. "You are welcome to try," Adrian murmured smoothly, his golden eyes locking onto the defiant board member. "Though I should warn you—our legal team breathes fire."
