Chapter 3 - The Boardroom TrapHook“Walking into your own company with a target on your back is dangerous. Walking into a board meeting knowing your business partner ordered a hit on a seven-year-old child is suicide.”
By 8:00 AM, the Manhattan rain was pouring over the tinted glass of my limousine.
I had moved Lily to a secure, unlisted safehouse outside the city under the heavy guard of Marcus’s top operatives. But to keep her safe, I couldn't run. If I ran, Julian Vance-Moreau would know I knew the truth. I had to walk into the lion’s den—my own corporate headquarters at Mitchell Investments.
The glass doors of the 50th-floor boardroom slid open.
Sitting at the head of the conference table was Julian Vance-Moreau himself, sipping espresso from a china cup. Beside him was my COO, James, smiling like a man who had just conquered the world.
"Ah, Robert!" Julian rose, extending a manicured hand. His gray hair was impeccably styled, his suit worth more than most people made in a year. "The man of the hour! The ink is dry on the Sterling acquisition. We are making history today."
I took his hand, feeling the cold, calculated grip of a predator.
"History is expensive, Julian," I said smoothly, taking my seat at the head of the table. "Speaking of which, I was looking over the final asset audits for Sterling’s European subsidiaries last night. I found an anomaly."
The room went dead silent. James paused mid-sip of his coffee.
"An anomaly?" Julian echoed, his smile remaining perfectly fixed, though his eyes hardened like diamonds. "What kind of anomaly?"
"An off-book liability linked to a maritime account called L'Ange Bleu," I said, leaning back and lacing my fingers together. "A series of monthly transfers totaling nearly $15 million over three years, routed directly through private orphanages and private security contractors on the East Coast."
James laughed nervously. "Rob, come on. Big acquisitions always have weird legacy shell companies. Our legal team cleared Sterling yesterday."
"Did they?" I stared directly into Julian’s eyes. "Or did someone pay our legal team to look the other way while a dead woman's inheritance was laundered through my firm?"
Julian didn't flinch. Instead, he slowly set down his espresso cup. The sound of porcelain hitting glass echoed like a gunshot in the silent room.
"Robert," Julian said in a low, chilling voice. "You built a very impressive empire from nothing. You are a self-made man. But self-made men often make the mistake of believing they are invincible. You don't know the machinery you are messing with."
"I know that a child named Lily is currently under my protection," I replied coldly. "And I know that her mother, Henriette, didn't die in an accident three years ago."
Julian leaned forward, his calm mask completely slipping away to reveal the monster beneath.
"You have twenty-four hours to hand over the child and the drive from that bear," Julian whispered so only I could hear. "If you don't, Mitchell Investments will burn to the ground, and your name will be framed for the most sickening crime this city has ever seen."
He stood up, buttoned his jacket, and walked out of the boardroom.
May you like
Two minutes later, my phone vibrated. It was an alert from my safehouse security feed.
The feed was black. The emergency lines were dead.
