Chapter 10 - Shadows in the Boardroom
Julian froze, his hand hanging empty in the cool hospital air. ""What do you mean someone on the board? Victor told me it was Mother’s idea to bleed the trusts.""
Clara swallowed with difficulty, her voice trembling but resolute. ""Victor was an instrument, Julian. Your mother is obsessed with social preservation, but she doesn't have the stomach or the intellect to engineer a fifty-million-dollar international shell company. Someone financed his return. Someone promised to strip you of your voting shares at tomorrow’s annual shareholder assembly.""
Julian’s mind raced through the roster of directors. Vance Enterprises was a maritime shipping empire worth billions. Five senior board members controlled the swinging votes: two legacy allies of his late father, two neutral fund managers, and Arthur Sterling—his father’s oldest confidant and the godfather who had handed Julian his first briefcase.
""Sterling,"" Julian muttered, the realization dropping like lead in his stomach.
""He visited the estate two weeks ago while you were in London,"" Clara explained, her breathing steadying as she gathered strength. ""He brought the documents disguised as revised maritime insurance policies. When I reviewed the annexes, I noticed the transfer clauses. If you were incapacitated or convicted of gross negligence, all emergency proxy powers transferred directly to Sterling’s offshore consortium.""
""And that’s why Eleanor tried to force the lethal dose today,"" Julian deduced, rage simmering beneath his icy composure. ""The shareholder meeting is scheduled for ten o'clock tomorrow morning. If you died and I was dragged into a murder investigation, the board would immediately invoke the emergency clause.""
""Julian, you cannot go to the headquarters tomorrow,"" Clara pleaded, her pale hand reaching out once more to touch his arm. ""They have bought the private security team at the tower. If you walk into that boardroom, you are walking into an ambush.""
Julian leaned down and kissed Clara’s forehead, his jaw set in iron determination. ""They took your health. They tried to take our child. They turned my own family into monsters.""
He stood up, buttoning his coat and turning toward the door.
""I am not walking into their ambush, Clara,"" Julian said coldly. ""I am walking into their execution.""
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Before he could reach the handle, the door swung open violently. Two uniformed state troopers stepped inside, badges gleaming under the hallway lights.
""Julian Vance?"" the lead officer asked. ""You are under arrest for the attempted murder of Eleanor Vance.""
