Chapter 5 - The Corporate Strike
By Friday morning, the forty-floor Whitmore Tower in downtown Chicago was a fortress under siege.
The trading bells at the New York Stock Exchange hadn't even rung before the SEC announced a total suspension of trading for Whitmore Technologies. The company’s stock, which had been valued at eighty-two dollars a share on Tuesday morning, was now completely worthless, frozen by federal order pending the forensic accounting report from Vanguard Alpha.
Ethan sat in his leather chair on the top floor, the panoramic window behind him showing the gray, mist-covered expanse of Lake Michigan. The massive mahogany desk was empty, save for a single plastic cup of cold coffee and his corporate phone, which had been disconnected from the external network.
The double doors of the executive office swung open.
Arthur Vance walked in, followed by two federal marshals and an independent compliance trustee named Dr. Elizabeth Vance—a woman who had spent twenty years managing the dissolution of corrupt corporate estates for the bankruptcy court.
"Ethan," Arthur said, setting a leather folder on the mahogany wood. "The grand jury has finished its review of the Swiss account logs. The indictments for wire fraud and tax evasion have been signed by the federal judge."
Ethan didn't stand up. He looked at the marshals, his hand instinctively going to the empty space on his wrist where his watch used to be. "Where is Nora?"
"Nora is currently chairing the restructuring committee at the Vanguard offices," Arthur said, his voice flat. "She doesn't have time to see you, Ethan. She’s busy re-hiring the three hundred warehouse workers your mother laid off last month to cover the marketing deficit."
"She’s a mathematician," Ethan whispered, a sudden, bitter laugh breaking through his exhaustion. "She’s just a math teacher’s daughter. How did she get the capital to buy out Vanguard Alpha?"
Dr. Elizabeth Vance stepped forward, pulling a thick document from her folder. "She didn't buy it out, Mr. Whitmore. Her father, Richard Carter, was the primary author of the algorithmic risk models that Vanguard Alpha used to build their first institutional fund in the nineties. When he died, he left his daughter a fifty-one percent voting share in the parent management trust. She didn't marry into wealth, Ethan. She was the one who was funding your company's expansion loans for the last five years."
Ethan’s face went completely blank, the realization of his family’s monumental stupidity hitting him like a physical blow. They had spent four years treating the majority owner of their corporate debt like a domestic servant because she wore quiet clothes and liked to cook chicken soup for her mother.
May you like
"She... she never said anything," Ethan stammered.
"Because she wanted to see if you loved her for who she was, or for what she could write a check for," Arthur said, gesturing to the marshals. "And you gave her your answer in the kitchen on Tuesday morning. Step away from the desk, Mr. Whitmore. Your shift is officially over."
