Chapter 5 - The Counter-Strategy
Thursday morning, the executive boardroom of Evans Commercial Real Estate felt more like a war room.
Seated around the mahogany table were Arthur Pendelton, my chief financial officer Thomas, and Marcus, who had dropped by on his lunch break in civilian clothes to offer an unofficial sounding board.
"Vance played a dirty, calculated hand," Thomas said, slamming a folder of financial projections onto the table. "If this scandal hit the local press right before Tuesday's City Council vote, the media would have painted you as an unfeeling corporate heiress who abandons her starving father. The Council members would have distanced themselves from our bid out of sheer political cowardice. Apex Horizon would walk away with the Union Pacific contract uncontested."
"Except the scandal didn't stick to me," I said, standing at the head of the table and resting my palms flat against the wood. "It blew up directly in my father's face, and thanks to Marcus, my father is currently sitting in a federal holding cell awaiting indictment."
"True," Marcus grinned, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed. "And because Richard was dumb enough to execute an extortion attempt on video—courtesy of the security cameras we didn't mention earlier that covered the entire back patio—we have him dead to rights on felony coercion."
"What about Vance?" Arthur asked, adjusting his spectacles. "Technically, corporate espionage and funding a disgruntled relative are notoriously difficult to prosecute directly unless we can prove Vance ordered the extortion specifically. Right now, on paper, it looks like a standard real estate transaction and a personal family dispute."
I smiled—a sharp, uncompromising expression that made Arthur pause.
"We don't need a criminal indictment to destroy Victor Vance today, Arthur," I said smoothly. "We need a public reckoning. Vance operates on reputation, political favors, and the illusion of corporate respectability. If the City Council and the commercial real estate board discover that he colluded with a federal felon to execute a smear campaign using extortion, his bid for the Union Pacific yard won't just be rejected—he’ll be blacklisted from every major development project in the state."
"How do you propose we execute that?" Thomas asked, leaning forward with sudden interest.
"We don't go to the press quietly," I said, walking toward the large projection screen at the front of the room. "We invite the press, the City Council members, and Victor Vance himself to a special press conference on Monday morning—twenty-four hours before the official vote."
"And what is the headline?" Arthur asked.
"The headline," I said, tapping the remote to display a side-by-side financial audit linking Apex Horizon's wire transfers directly to Richard Evans's embezzlement defense fund, "will be: How a Corporate Titan Tried to Steal a Child's Birthday Party. Let's see how much spin Victor Vance's PR team can put on that."
The room fell silent for three seconds before Marcus let out a low whistle.
May you like
"Remind me never to get on your bad side, Claire."
"Just make sure the federal marshals have the subpoena ready for Vance's financial records by Monday morning," I replied calmly. "It's time to clean house."
