Chapter 4 - The Boardroom Showdown
The walnut-paneled boardroom on the fiftieth floor of Moretti Tower was suffocatingly quiet.
Twenty-two members of the board of directors sat around the massive mahogany table. Whispers rippled through the room like static electricity. At the head of the table sat Harrison Vance, looking entirely self-satisfied, twirling a Montblanc pen between his fingers as he reviewed a printed copy of the emergency ouster motion.
The heavy double doors at the end of the room swung open.
All twenty-two heads turned.
Victor Moretti walked in.
He didn't look defeated. He didn't look stressed. He walked with the slow, terrifying composure of an apex predator entering a feeding ground. Behind him walked Arthur Vance, carrying a briefcase, and right beside Arthur... walked me.
I wore my new clothes—a simple, dark blue blazer and black trousers—and clutched my worn backpack tightly against my chest.
Harrison scoffed loudly, leaning back in his leather chair. "Are you kidding me, Victor? You brought a child to a board meeting? Have you completely lost your grip on reality?"
Victor didn't answer immediately. He walked to the head of the table, pulled out the chair directly opposite Harrison, and sat down. I sat in the chair beside him, keeping my chin up, though my hands were sweating inside my pockets.
"Harrison," Victor said, his voice cutting through the silence like a scalpel. "You called an emergency session to discuss my 'unauthorized expenditures' and my fitness to lead."
"Let's dispense with the theatrics," Harrison interrupted, slamming his pen down on the table. "You've diverted four million dollars of corporate reserve funds to purchase slum real estate on 42nd Street. You've brought an underage civilian and six random orphans into your private residence. You are exposing Moretti Enterprises to massive liability. Under clause 14-B of the corporate charter, the board has the authority to vote you out immediately for gross negligence and mental incompetence."
Nods of agreement rippled through several board members.
Harrison smiled, leaning forward. "Sign the temporary transfer of voting rights, Victor, and we won't press public charges for corporate embezzlement."
For three seconds, the room was completely silent.
Then, Victor let out a quiet, cold laugh.
"Embezzlement, Harrison?" Victor asked, raising an eyebrow. "That's a very specific accusation. Did you check the account ledger before you made it?"
"I don't need to check ledgers to know you spent corporate funds on a charity case," Harrison sneered.
"That's funny," Victor said smoothly. He gestured to Arthur Vance. "Arthur, open the briefcase."
Arthur popped the brass latches of his leather case and pulled out a thick stack of certified financial documents, sliding them across the mahogany table toward Harrison.
Harrison frowned, picking up the top page. His eyes scanned the numbers.
As he read further down the page, the self-satisfied smirk slowly vanished from his face, replaced by a look of absolute, stunned horror. The color drained entirely from his skin.
"What... what is this?" Harrison stammered, his hands shaking as he dropped the papers.
"That," Victor said, his voice dropping into a lethal, quiet register, "is a forensic audit of the subsidiary real estate firm your family controls—Vance Holdings. Specifically, the accounts connected to the city's downtown revitalization grants."
Harrison gripped the edge of the table. "This... this is fabricated! You can't prove—"
"I can prove that for the last four years, Vance Holdings has systematically embezzled over twelve million dollars in public funds earmarked for low-income housing," Victor continued, leaning forward, resting his forearms on the table. "You used shell companies to buy up abandoned buildings, inflated their repair costs on paper, and pocketed the difference while letting families live in unsafe, freezing basements."
The boardroom erupted into chaos. Directors started shouting over each other, papers rustling frantically as everyone tried to process the revelation.
Harrison turned pale, staring at Victor with pure hatred. "You're bluffing. You don't have jurisdiction—"
"I don't need jurisdiction," Victor interrupted, his voice cutting through the noise like thunder. "I have the federal indictments. The documents were delivered to the U.S. Attorney's office forty-five minutes ago. By tonight, federal marshals will be paying a visit to your offices."
Harrison stood up so fast his chair tipped over backward with a loud crash against the wood floor. "You can't do this! I'm a founding partner! I'll destroy you!"
"You tried to destroy children who had nobody left in the world," Victor said, standing up to his full height, towering over Harrison across the table. "You threatened my family. You miscalculated. Get out of my building before I have security throw you out the window."
Trembling with rage and humiliation, Harrison grabbed his briefcase, glared at me with pure venom, and stormed out of the boardroom, slamming the heavy doors behind him.
The room fell into a stunned, breathless silence.
Twenty-two board members sat completely frozen, staring at Victor as if they had just realized they were sharing a room with a tiger.
Victor slowly sat back down, smoothing his cuffs. He looked around the table.
"Are there any other questions regarding my management of this company?" Victor asked quietly.
May you like
Twenty-two heads shook in unison.
"Meeting adjourned," Victor said.
