Chapter 4 - The Boardroom Slaughter
At 8:00 AM sharp, Adrian marched into the regional office of Vale Industries.
His suit was wrinkled, and he had dark circles under his furious eyes.
He marched past the receptionist, ignoring her panicked greetings.
He entered the video-conference room to connect to the emergency board meeting in D.C.
The massive screens flickered to life.
The twelve board members of Vale Industries were already seated around the mahogany table.
But Adrian was not looking at them.
He was looking at the woman sitting at the head of the table.
Claire.
She wore a sharp, tailored white suit, looking like a corporate assassin.
"What is the meaning of this?" Adrian shouted into the microphone. "Security, remove her!"
None of the board members moved.
Claire leaned forward, her expression completely unreadable.
"Good morning, Adrian," she said, her voice echoing perfectly through the speakers.
"You have no right to be in that room!" Adrian spat, slamming his hands on the table.
"Actually, she does," said Arthur Pendelton, the oldest board member.
"Mrs. Vale now controls fifty-one percent of the voting shares."
Adrian froze, all the blood draining from his face.
"That's illegal," he whispered.
"I purchased twenty-nine percent yesterday," Claire explained calmly.
"And the remaining twenty-two percent were proxy votes."
She held up a signed document.
"Votes assigned to me by your own father, Adrian."
Adrian’s jaw dropped. "My father would never—"
"Your father was deeply in debt," Claire interrupted smoothly.
"I bought his debt. I own him, too."
She tapped her manicured fingernail against the table.
"As the majority shareholder, my first motion is a vote of no confidence in the current CEO."
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Adrian watched in absolute horror as, one by one, every single hand in the room went up.
He was fired.
