Chapter 7 - The Boardroom Coup
At 10:00 AM, the executive boardroom of Sterling Holdings was packed. The minority shareholders, board members, and executives were sweating in their tailored suits, terrified of the hostile takeover.
They expected my father to walk through the mahogany doors.
Instead, I walked in alone.
I was wearing a sharp, blood-red blazer. I didn't try to hide the bruise on my face with makeup. I wanted them to see it. I wanted them to know exactly why their world was burning.
I took the seat at the head of the table—Victor’s chair.
"Good morning, gentlemen," I said, opening my file.
The room was dead silent. Finally, the Chief Financial Officer cleared his throat. "Mrs. Sterling..."
"Ms. Hayes," I corrected sharply. "As you are all aware, Hayes Global has assumed ninety-two percent of the controlling shares of this entity due to a breach of contract by the former CEO. My father has assigned his voting rights entirely to me."
I looked around the room. I recognized many of these men from the gala. Some of them had laughed.
"Effective immediately, this company is being dissolved and absorbed into Hayes Global," I announced. "All board members are dismissed without severance, pending a full forensic audit of the cooked books you have been operating under for a decade."
"You can't do that!" one of the older board members shouted, standing up. "We have contracts! We have golden parachutes!"
"You have complicity in federal wire fraud," I countered smoothly, sliding a flash drive across the table. "My team spent the night reviewing Victor’s offshore accounts. You were all funneling company assets to private LLCs in the Caymans. You can either walk out of this building quietly, or you can stay and wait for the SEC, who I have already contacted."
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The color drained from their faces. One by one, the elite titans of the Sterling empire closed their briefcases, lowered their heads, and walked out the door.
I sat alone at the head of the table. The empire was mine. And I was going to burn it to the ground.
