flash
The screen of my encrypted phone glowed against the dark marble of the pantry, casting a cold blue hue over June’s terrified face. The name at the bottom of the electronic payment voucher wasn’t a low-level clerk’s. It belonged to Marcus Vance—my chief operating officer, my shadow, the man who had managed my corporate portfolio and personal life for over a decade. / Chapter 17 / 20

Chapter 17 - The Proxy War

While Marcus sat in federal custody, his proxy allies on the outer board attempted a desperate legal maneuver to freeze corporate assets under an antiquated family trust clause. They argued that my emotional instability following my wife’s death rendered me legally unfit to manage the conglomerate. The counter-strike was swift: June deployed the original security footage from sub-level three, proving in open court that the emergency clause had been weaponized by Marcus to stage an illegal coup. The judge dismissed their petition within ten minutes.

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