Chapter 15 - The Final Duel on the 40th FloorArthur stared at the red-stamped dossier as if it were a venomous snake. His knees buckled, and he dropped heavily back into his leather chair, the color draining completely from his face.
"You... you planned this," Arthur whispered, his voice trembling with a mixture of terror and pure hatred. "You engineered the European buyout trap just to make me over-leverage!"
"I simply gave you enough rope," Elena replied evenly, "and you willingly tied the knot."
Before Arthur could speak another word, the boardroom doors flew open again.
Federal marshals, accompanied by SEC investigators, stepped briskly into the room.
"Arthur Vance," the lead federal agent announced, flashing a warrant. "You are under arrest for securities fraud, corporate embezzlement, and systemic market manipulation."
As the heavy steel handcuffs clicked around Arthur’s wrists and he was hauled out of the executive suite he had ruled for decades, absolute silence fell over the 40th floor.
Jessica Thorne, who had managed to slip into the back of the room hoping to secure her own parachute, tried to back out through the doors.
"Miss Thorne," Elena called out smoothly without turning around.
Jessica froze, her face pale as paper.
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"Your termination papers from the new corporate trust are waiting on your desk downstairs," Elena said, her voice dripping with lethal calm. "And don't bother looking for a job in Chicago financial circles. Your name is at the very top of our blacklist."
Jessica swallowed hard, turned on her heel, and fled down the hallway, her designer heels clicking frantically against the marble floor until the elevator doors swallowed her up.
