Chapter 8 - The Corner Table
Friday morning arrived with the crisp, clean light of a perfect summer day. The rooftop terrace was once again filled with employees, the clinking of silverware and the smell of fresh coffee filling the air.
Claire sat at her usual corner table. The flowers in the center were fresh, their purple petals catching the sun.
Richard Sterling walked out onto the terrace, flanked by Evelyn Vance and three men in tailored gray suits. He looked victorious, his stride long and confident as he approached Claire's table.
"The board meeting is in twenty minutes, Claire," Richard said, leaning against the back of the empty metal chair across from her. "I suggest you sign the co-CEO agreement now. It saves us the unpleasantness of a formal removal in front of the staff."
Claire didn't look up from her tablet. "I've decided to change the layout of the rooftop, Richard. The tables are too crowded. People don't look at the flowers anymore."
Richard frowned, his corporate patience finally wearing thin. "Claire, stop this. Your legs are gone, and your hold on this company is slipping with them. Don't humiliate yourself."
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"I'm not the one who's slipping, Richard," Claire said, finally looking up.
Behind Sterling, the large digital media screen on the terrace wall—usually reserved for corporate announcements and stock tickers—suddenly flickered. The Northstar logo disappeared, replaced by a live, high-definition feed of the hidden basement vault, complete with scrolling logs of the Sterling Global data mining transactions and the corresponding utility fraud reports.
