Chapter 9 - Checkmate at the Docks
The security guards at Vanguard’s entrance tried to block the glass doors, but Thomas stepped forward, flashing a federal high-priority enforcement badge that caused the guards to step back instantly.
Charlotte walked into Vanguard’s main trading floor as if she owned the building—which, legally speaking, she nearly did by lunchtime.
Victor Vance burst out of his private office on the mezzanine level, his face purple with rage, his expensive silk tie askew.
“Charlotte!” Victor roared, marching down the glass staircase. “You arrogant little brat! You think you can waltz into my company and pull a stunt like this? You’re trespassing!”
Charlotte stopped at the foot of the stairs, looking up at him with an expression of supreme indifference.
“I’m not trespassing, Victor,” Charlotte said, her voice echoing clearly across the hushed trading floor. “I’m foreclosing.”
Victor sneered, descending the final steps until he stood mere inches away from her. “You think a few frozen bank accounts and a hostile stock purchase mean you’ve won? I have connections in government, in the underworld, in places you can’t even imagine. I can make you disappear just like your parents did!”
A collective intake of breath echoed around the room. But Charlotte didn't flinch. She simply tilted her head, reached into her blazer pocket, and pulled out a small, encrypted flash drive.
She tossed it lightly into Victor’s chest. He caught it instinctively, staring down at it in confusion.
“What is this?” Victor snarled.
“That is every encrypted communication between you, Henderson, and the corrupt judges who forged the Maine estate deed,” Charlotte said calmly. “Including the audio file of you discussing my parents’ car accident three years ago.”
Victor’s face drained of all color. The bravado vanished in a single second, replaced by cold, primal terror.
“You... you recorded that?” Victor whispered.
“My father had a backup server installed in the family vault before he passed away,” Charlotte replied, stepping closer until she was towering over him in spirit if not in height. “He knew you were coming for the empire, Victor. He just wanted to make sure I had enough rope to hang you with.”
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Sirens wailed outside the floor-to-ceiling windows. Within seconds, a dozen federal agents in tactical gear poured through the glass doors, their boots pounding against the floor as they fanned out across the trading floor.
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