Chapter 9
A collective gasp rippled through the seated board members. Several directors shifted nervously in their leather chairs, casting anxious glances toward the federal agents standing impassive by the mahogany doors. Victoria let out a sharp, incredulous laugh, though the skin around her eyes tightened into hard, defensive lines.
"Have you completely lost your mind, Julian?" Victoria snapped, her voice rising in pitch as she gestured wildly toward him. "You destroyed a twelve-million-dollar family heirloom on live security cameras last night while throwing a drunken temper tantrum over a stolen property accusation you leveled against a child! The board has already seen the initial incident reports. You are finished. Vance Industries is finished unless someone with actual competence takes the helm."
"The cameras recorded more than just my temper, Victoria," Julian replied, his voice remaining terrifyingly steady. He didn't blink as he looked at the woman who had raised him, protected him, and ultimately plotted his ruin. "They also recorded the East Gallery at two-ten in the morning yesterday. Specifically, they recorded someone using a master override code to disable the display case sensors so the Hope Diamond could be removed before the gala even began."
Victoria’s hand, resting flat on the walnut table, twitched. The ring on her right pinky finger caught the amber sunlight streaming through the glass wall. She didn't speak; her lips pressed together into a thin, bloodless white line.
Sterling stepped forward, placing his leather briefcase on the edge of the table and flipping open the brass latches with a practiced click. He pulled out a thick manila folder and a sleek, encrypted hard drive, sliding them across the polished wood toward the center of the table where the head director, an elderly man named Arthur Pendelton, sat watching the exchange with deep, furrowed brows.
"Federal investigators from the SEC and the White-Collar Crime Division have already reviewed the unedited master archive," Sterling said evenly, addressing the board rather than Victoria. "The digital footprint left by the override code matches the administrative credentials assigned exclusively to Ms. Victoria Vance. Furthermore, financial subpoenas executed an hour ago confirm that accounts tied to her offshore holding company in Zurich initiated heavy short positions against Vance Industries stock exactly forty-eight hours before the scheduled merger vote."
Arthur Pendelton adjusted his half-moon reading glasses, picking up the top document from the manila folder. His eyes scanned the forensic accounting report, his expression growing darker with every line.
"Victoria," Pendelton said slowly, his voice carrying the heavy weight of decades of institutional trust betrayed. "Is this true?"
May you like
"It's a fabrication," Victoria said, her voice dropping into a dangerous, controlled hiss. She stepped out from behind her chair, her eyes darting frantically around the room, searching for an ally among the silent directors. "Julian is trying to deflect blame for his own financial recklessness and his public humiliation last night. He broke the diamond! The whole world saw it!"
"Yes, I broke the diamond," Julian admitted, shocking everyone in the room by owning his failure with a brutal, unshielded honesty. He walked slowly around the table, closing the distance between himself and his sister. "I played right into your hands. You knew I would panic. You engineered the theft to look like a desperate act of corporate embezzlement on my part, or a petty crime by a child, so the board would oust me and tank the stock. You traded our family legacy for forty million dollars in short-term options."
