Chapter 5 - The Boardroom Revolt
Inside the executive boardroom on the top floor of the Vanguard building, the mahogany table was piled high with financial ledgers.
Arthur Vance sat at the head of the table, his shirtsleeves rolled up, reviewing a digital cash-flow projection.
The heavy glass doors swung open, and Maya walked in, holding her portfolio.
Arthur looked up, and a rare, proud smile broke across his weathered face. He stood up from his chair, walked around the table, and extended his hand.
"Welcome, CTO," Arthur said warmly.
Maya shook his hand firmly, a bright smile lighting up her face. "Thank you, Mr. Vance. Though I believe I have some serious backlog to clear before I earn that title."
"You've already earned it ten times over," Arthur replied. He motioned toward the chairs. "Sit down. We have our first crisis."
Before Maya could sit, the glass doors banged open again.
It wasn't Richard—he was still stranded in Miami trying to sort out his frozen credit cards and figure out how to salvage a vacation where his mother was screaming at the concierge. It was Marcus Thorne, Richard’s primary financial backer and the senior board member who had spent years helping Richard siphon unearned bonuses out of the firm’s development funds.
Marcus marched into the boardroom, his face dark with rage, slamming a leather portfolio onto the table.
"Have you completely lost your mind, Arthur?!" Marcus bellowed, not even bothering with greetings. "Freezing Richard’s accounts right before the municipal bond vote?! The board will vote to oust you by noon! You can't just hand the company keys to an inexperienced junior analyst because of some domestic family spat!"
Arthur didn't flinch. He didn't even stand up. He simply leaned back in his leather chair, steepling his fingers beneath his chin, his slate-grey eyes locking onto Marcus with chilling intensity.
"Marcus," Arthur said softly, his voice carrying a quiet, lethal danger. "Before you talk about experience, let’s talk about your recent financial audit."
Marcus’s color drained slightly. He blinked, adjusting his tie. "My... my audit? What does my audit have to do with anything?"
Maya opened her portfolio, pulling out a thick packet of forensic accounting documents and sliding them across the mahogany table toward Marcus.
"It has to do with the three hundred thousand dollars in ghost consulting fees routed through a shell company in the Cayman Islands over the last eighteen months," Maya stated clearly, her voice steady and unbothered. "Fees approved by Richard Vance to pad your quarterly dividends in exchange for your vote on the board."
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Marcus stared at the documents, his mouth opening and closing silently like a fish out of water. Every drop of arrogance vanished from his face, replaced by the cold, creeping terror of a man standing on the edge of a federal prison sentence.
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