Chapter 39 - The boardroom coup
The morning sun broke through the storm clouds over Manhattan, casting long golden reflections across the towering glass facade of Weston Global Headquarters.
Inside the executive boardroom on the sixty-fourth floor, the atmosphere was suffocating. Ten board members sat around the circular onyx conference table, their expressions tense, their eyes avoiding each other as a team of corporate attorneys finalized the transfer documents.
At the head of the table sat Richard Croft, Thomas Weston’s oldest living confidant and the chief legal counsel who had overseen the family's assets for three decades.
"The transaction is legally binding under Section 12 of the sovereign covenant," Croft announced, adjusting his gold-rimmed glasses as he stamped the corporate seal onto the final page. "With Arthur Weston deceased and Garrett Weston currently unaccounted for following the incident at the coastal estate, Mrs. Margaret Weston’s primary signature activates the foreign trust transfer."
"That signature is a fraudulent duplicate, Croft," a voice thundered from the double mahogany doors.
The boardroom went dead silent.
Garrett Weston marched into the room, dressed in a sharp charcoal suit, his presence commanding and entirely unyielding. Beside him walked Maya, her posture immaculate, wearing a tailored navy blazer, her chin held high. Flanking them were two senior special agents from the Department of Justice, their badges displayed prominently on their lapels.
Behind them, supported by Marcus, came Margaret Weston. She looked frail, but her eyes burned with the ferocious wrath of a mother who had survived hell.
Croft’s hand froze over the paperwork, his face paling to the color of ash. "Garrett... Margaret... we were told... the reports indicated you were incapacitated."
"You were hoping we were dead," Margaret said, her voice trembling with righteous fury as she walked straight up to Croft. "You were Thomas's best friend. You were in our home every Sunday for dinner. And you forged my signature to sell my late husband's legacy to a European syndicate?"
"Margaret, you don't understand the scope of the debt!" Croft stammered, rising from his chair as the other board members shrank back. "Thomas borrowed three hundred million dollars from the syndicate in 1984 to stave off bankruptcy! He didn't want to give Maya away, but Croft—I had to protect the corporation! Arthur was weak, he couldn't close the deal!"
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"And you thought framing Maya for poisoning, having Arthur take the fall, and triggering a corporate emergency would let you walk away with the finder's fee," Garrett said, his voice dropping to a dangerous baritone.
👉 Maya laid a heavy black folder onto the conference table, opening it to reveal a certified forensic audit that froze Croft's breath in his throat.
