Chapter 6 - The Setup
Desperation makes intelligent men do incredibly stupid things. Julian needed capital to fight the impending lawsuits and satisfy the board. He needed a lifeline. I gave him a noose.
I created a fictitious venture capital firm called Apex Vanguard, complete with a flawless digital footprint, fake LinkedIn profiles, and an escrow account loaded with twenty million dollars of Tartarus money. I had a hired actor—a silver-haired, distinguished-looking man named Robert—reach out to Julian with a lifeline.
Robert proposed a buyout of Vance Global’s current contracts, ignoring the intellectual property dispute. But there was a catch: Julian had to personally guarantee the investment by putting up his own remaining offshore assets as collateral.
I watched the meeting via the webcam in the executive boardroom. Julian was sweating, looking at the contract Robert slid across the table.
"This requires me to leverage everything I have left," Julian said, his voice trembling. "If the IP lawsuit goes south, you take it all."
"Business is risk, Mr. Vance," Robert said smoothly, reciting the lines I had fed him through an earpiece. "We believe in your leadership. But we need a show of good faith. Sign the guarantee, and the twenty million hits your operating account in one hour. You can pay off the board, silence the ghost company, and rebuild."
Julian looked at the document. He thought he was outsmarting the system. He thought he could take the money, hide it, and declare bankruptcy. He didn't realize the contract was laced with legal trapdoors designed by Silas, transferring all liability directly to Julian's personal identity.
Julian signed.
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The moment his pen lifted from the paper, I initiated the wire transfer. Twenty million dollars entered Vance Global. And exactly three seconds later, I triggered the IRS algorithm I had tipped off. The money was flagged as illicit funds tied to the blacklisted accounts I had previously linked to Elena.
The trap had snapped shut.
