Chapter 4 - The Corporate War
By 8:00 AM the next morning, the financial markets opened, and the fallout was immediate. Vance Enterprise stock dropped by 24% in pre-market trading—the worst single-day decline in the company's forty-year history.
Landon and I walked through the sliding glass doors of the Vance Enterprise headquarters in downtown Manhattan. I wore a tailored white pantsuit, carrying a black leather briefcase. My cheek still bore a faint red mark from Sienna’s slap, but I held my head high, ignoring the gasps and whispers of the employees standing in the lobby.
We took the private executive elevator straight to the 50th floor and pushed open the heavy oak double doors of the boardroom.
Victor sat at the head of the conference table. He looked exhausted, surrounded by four top-tier corporate defense attorneys. Sienna sat near the far end of the room, looking tiny and miserable in a dark coat.
"You have no legal standing to be in this room, Aubrey," Victor sneered, banging his pen against his leather notepad. "This is a private board strategy session. Landon, sit down and stop this foolish, emotional crusade."
"Aubrey is sitting right here," Landon declared firmly, pulling out a heavy leather chair for me right across from Victor. "She is attending as the sole trustee of the Sterling Heritage Fund, which holds a 15% voting share in this firm."
Victor let out a cold, condescending laugh. "15% is a minority whisper, son. I control 51% of the voting stock through my personal holdings. You can't touch me."
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"You held 51%," I interrupted, opening my briefcase and sliding a thick blue folder across the polished table. "Until 6:30 this morning, when your wife—Landon's mother—filed for emergency legal separation and asset freezing on grounds of marital fraud and corporate embezzlement."
Victor’s gold pen snapped completely in half between his knuckles.
