Chapter 6 - The Boardroom Ambush
The top floor of the Sterling Global Tower in downtown Boston was bathed in the harsh, cold glare of noon light.
Inside the glass-walled boardroom, twelve members of the board of directors sat around a massive oval oak table. At the head of the table sat Richard Vance, wearing an immaculate charcoal suit, flanked by his daughter Victoria.
Victoria looked pale, heavy makeup failing to hide the dark circles around her eyes and the frantic nervousness in her posture. She kept adjusting her diamond necklace, her eyes darting toward the double doors.
"Members of the board," Richard Vance said, his loud, authoritative voice booming across the room as he tapped a stack of documents. "We are here today on a matter of urgent corporate survival. Adrian Sterling’s erratic, violent behavior at his wedding two days ago has caused our stock to drop four percent in trading this morning. His sudden obsession with a fraudulent family from the backwoods of Maine proves he is mentally unfit to govern a fortune 500 enterprise."
A few board members nodded nervously. Richard Vance had spent millions buying their loyalty over the last three years.
"Therefore," Richard continued, grinning wolfishly, "under Clause 12 of the corporate charter, I move for an immediate vote to remove Adrian Sterling as Chief Executive Officer and appoint myself as interim Chairman—"
BANG!
The heavy mahogany boardroom doors burst open, slamming back against the walls.
Every head in the room spun around.
Adrian Sterling stepped into the room. He wasn't wearing his usual corporate suit; he wore a crisp black shirt, sleeves rolled up to his forearms, flanked by Marcus and two federal prosecutors.
Behind them walked two uniformed officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Richard Vance’s smile vanished instantly. He stood up, clutching the table. "Adrian! You have no right to interrupt a private board meeting! Security, escort this man out!"
"The security team answers to me, Richard," Adrian said calmly, walking slowly down the center of the room. He didn't sit down; he simply stood at the end of the table, resting his hands on the leather chair. "And as of twenty minutes ago, so does the District Attorney."
"This is absurd!" Victoria shrieked, standing up beside her father, her voice shrill. "You are insane, Adrian! You brought a crazy woman into your house! You’re ruined!"
"Am I?" Adrian pulled a dark flash drive from his pocket, setting it gently on the center of the polished glass table. "On this drive are twelve years of encrypted bank records from Apex Care LLC. It details forty-eight separate wire transfers from Victoria Vance’s personal account to Dr. Arthur Thorne at St. Jude’s Sanatorium."
The board members began whispering frantically amongst themselves.
"It also contains," Adrian continued, his voice echoing with absolute authority, "a signed confession from Dr. Thorne, given to federal agents an hour ago, detailing how Richard Vance paid him two hundred thousand dollars a year to keep my lawful wife, Eleanor Sterling, forcibly medicated under a false identity."
Richard Vance’s face turned from pale to an ugly, mottled purple. "That’s a lie! That’s forged! You can't prove a single word of—"
"We don't need to prove it to the board, Mr. Vance," one of the FBI agents stepped forward, pulling a pair of steel handcuffs from his belt. "We’ve already proved it to a federal judge."
The agent produced a rolled document. "Richard Vance, Victoria Vance—you are both under arrest for conspiracy to commit kidnapping, human trafficking, evidence tampering, and medical fraud. You have the right to remain silent."
"Get your hands off me!" Victoria screamed as the second agent stepped behind her, pulling her arms behind her back and snapping the iron cuffs around her wrists. "Father! Do something! Tell them who we are!"
Richard Vance stumbled backward, his chair knocking over as the lead agent forced his arms behind him. "You can't do this to me! I own this city! Adrian, you bastard! I’ll destroy you! I’ll burn Sterling Global to the ground!"
Adrian leaned down, looking Richard Vance dead in the eyes as the titan of real estate was forced down onto his knees.
"You took four years of my life, Richard," Adrian whispered, his voice as cold as ice. "I’m going to take everything you own. Your land, your company, your freedom. By tomorrow morning, the Vance name will exist only in court records."
As the FBI led the screaming Victoria and the cursing Richard Vance out of the boardroom in front of the stunned board of directors, Marcus stepped up beside Adrian, holding out a pen.
"The board vote, Mr. Sterling?" Marcus asked softly.
May you like
Adrian looked around the table at the terrified board members, who were already scrambling to raise their hands in unanimous support of him.
"Meeting adjourned," Adrian said.
