Chapter 7 - The Clock Strikes NineThe digital wall clock at the end of the boardroom read 8:58 AM.
Two minutes.
Clara felt the room spin. The air turned heavy and thin. She looked at Arthur Sterling, searching his face for some sign of panic, some hidden legal loophole, some miracle. But Arthur remained completely still, his fingers steepled together under his chin, his expression an unreadable mask of calm calculations.
"Mr. Sterling..." Clara whispered, a tear escaping her eye and rolling down her cheek. "Is... is she right? Is it over?"
Victoria’s defense attorney checked his expensive Rolex, a sickening grin spreading across his face. "Sixty seconds, Mr. Sterling. I advise you to counsel your client to surrender the assets voluntarily, or we will pursue immediate obstruction charges."
"Fifty-nine seconds," Victoria mocked, tapping her long fingernails against the mahogany table. "Tick-tock, Clara. Back to the coffee machine for you. Back to scraping grease off the floor where you belong."
Clara closed her eyes. She thought of her sister Lily, currently lying in a hospital bed waiting for a life-saving procedure her insurance wouldn't cover. She thought of the cold winter night ten years ago, when she gave away her last bowl of soup to an old man who smelled like rain and garbage. She didn't regret it—not for a single second. If she had to do it all over again, she would.
"Thirty seconds," the attorney announced.
Arthur Sterling finally moved. He slowly uncrossed his fingers, turned his head toward the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, and let out a long, quiet sigh.
"Victoria," Arthur said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "You always were an impatient child. You inherited your father’s greed, but you never inherited his intelligence."
Victoria sneered. "Save your philosophical nonsense, Sterling. Twenty seconds! Sign it over or watch it vanish!"
"Ten seconds," the attorney counted down. "Nine... Eight... Seven..."
"Mr. Sterling, please," Clara choked out, bracing herself for the defeat.
"...Six... Five... Four... Three... Two... One... ZERO!"
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The digital clock clicked over to 9:00 AM.
Victoria stood up triumphantly, throwing her hands in the air. "It’s mine! The entire empire is mine! Security, throw this trash out of my building!"
