Chapter 5 - The Purge"This is insane! You can't do this!" David screamed, lunging across the table toward me, his fingers clawing at the air.
Before he could take two steps, two massive corporate security guards—the ones who had previously stood at attention for the board—stepped forward. But they didn't look at David with obedience anymore. They looked at him with cold detachment. They were Vance Global security, and their ultimate loyalty belonged to the holder of the primary controlling shares.
The guards grabbed David by the shoulders and slammed him down onto the mahogany table, pinning him flat.
"Get your hands off me! Do you know who I am?" David bellowed, his face mashed against the polished wood.
"You were executive vice president of operations," Arthur said smoothly, pulling a crisp white handkerchief from his pocket to wipe an imaginary speck of dust off his cuff. "As of ten seconds ago, you are an unemployed criminal facing up to twenty years for federal wire fraud and embezzlement."
The rest of the board sat in absolute, petrified silence. The twelve titans of industry—people who commanded global economies and pulled the strings of politicians—were now staring at their hands, too terrified to even breathe, let alone object. They realized with terrifying clarity that the quiet hospice volunteer sitting at the head of the table wasn't a victim. She was the executioner.
I stood up slowly, smoothing down the lapels of my blazer. I looked around the room, meeting the gaze of every single board member who had nodded in agreement to David’s coup just moments before.
"The meeting is adjourned," I said quietly, my voice carrying the weight of absolute authority. "Tomorrow morning at eight o'clock, we will hold a full audit of every department. If anyone here has clean hands, you have nothing to worry about. If not... pack your things tonight."
I turned away from the table, walking toward the private executive elevator at the back of the boardroom, with Arthur trailing closely behind.
As the heavy steel doors slid shut, cutting off the panicked murmurs of the board, I let out a long, shaky breath. The adrenaline that had sustained me through the confrontation was beginning to fade, leaving a hollow ache in my chest.
"You handled that brilliantly, Mrs. Vance," Arthur said softly as the elevator descended toward the underground parking garage.
"I just did what he trained me to do," I murmured, staring at my reflection in the polished steel doors. "Even if I didn't know it."
"He saw something extraordinary in you, Sarah," Arthur replied. "And now, the real work begins. Because while Marcus and David are the loud enemies inside the company, there is someone else—someone far more dangerous—who has just realized you survived the boardroom trap."
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"Who?" I asked, turning to face him.
"Julian’s estranged brother, Victor Vance. The man who was exiled from the company fifteen years ago for corporate espionage. He doesn't want to audit the company, Sarah. He wants to burn it to the ground—and take you with it."
