Chapter 4 - The Boardroom BacklashWhile Hope slept safely in a temporary nurse-station cot, Cameron stepped into a quiet hospital corridor to take a call from his corporate headquarters. The screen lit up with the face of Richard Vance, his senior partner and managing director.
“Cameron!” Richard’s voice blasted through the speaker, tight with panic and fury. “Where the hell are you? The Tokyo delegation walked out twenty minutes ago! They gave the contract to Apex Corp! Do you realize what this costs us? Forty million dollars in immediate valuation, gone!”
Cameron leaned against the cold hospital wall, his expression carved out of stone. “I know, Richard.”
“You know? You know?” Richard sputtered. “You blew the biggest acquisition of the decade because of a... what was it? A missed flight? The board is holding an emergency vote at nine o’clock this morning. They’re going to strip you of your controlling share if you don’t have a damn good explanation!”
“Tell them to go ahead and vote,” Cameron said smoothly.
“Are you insane?”
“No, Richard,” Cameron replied, his voice dropping an octave, carrying a chilling authority that silenced the man on the other end of the line. “For the last ten years, I’ve traded human lives for quarterly growth percentages. I’ve built an empire on blood, sweat, and algorithms that profit off people who work three jobs just to survive. My flight left without me because a little girl needed someone to care if her mother lived or died.”
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“That’s sentimentality, Cameron! That’s not business!”
“Then I’m out of the business,” Cameron said, and hung up.
