Chapter 15 - The Morning After the Storm
The sun rose over Providence the next morning with an unnatural, pristine clarity, washing the rain-drenched streets in brilliant golden light.
Inside the central conference room of Stanford Development, the executive board sat in stunned, terrified silence. Not a single executive dared to look up as Corbin walked in. He didn't sit at the head of the table. Instead, he stood by the window, holding a single manila folder.
"Effective immediately," Corbin announced, his voice ringing through the silent room like steel, "Stanford Development is dissolving its current corporate charter. Every single asset, holding, and property title is being transferred into a newly minted public trust managed jointly by federal oversight and the Julian Vance Foundation."
An executive near the end of the table cleared his throat nervously. "Mr. Stanford... if we dissolve the charter, what happens to our shares? What happens to the company?"
"The company becomes what it should have been forty years ago: an honest, transparent enterprise dedicated to public infrastructure without corruption," Corbin replied coldly, turning to face them. "And as for me? I am stepping down as CEO. My family’s name is no longer fit to lead an organization built on lies."
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He tossed the manila folder onto the center of the table. Inside was his formal resignation letter—and alongside it, the legal deed transferring the sprawling stone estate outside Providence entirely to Lianna Prescott and her son, Austin.
He turned around and walked out of the room, leaving behind an empire he no longer needed to validate his worth.
