Chapter 12 - The Countermove
Jerry Wallace did not raise his voice. He took a single step forward, standing toe-to-toe with Marcus Sterling. The atmosphere grew so dense that the string quartet on the mezzanine halted mid-movement.
"Marcus," Jerry said, his voice deep and rumbling like thunder over the lake. "You’ve made a career out of buying other men’s sweat with dirty paper. But you made one critical mistake when you structured Aegis Sovereign Capital."
Marcus chuckled, though a flicker of uncertainty flashed in his cold eyes. "And what mistake is that, old man?"
"You assumed my family only owned logistics," Jerry said smoothly.
Jerry gave a subtle nod to Elena Vance. Elena stepped forward, opened the leather portfolio, and presented a certified notarized legal deed bearing the embossed gold crest of the Bank of Switzerland and the Canadian Federal Reserve.
Marcus glanced at the first page, and the color drained completely from his face. His fingers began to tremble.
"This... this is impossible," Marcus stammered.
"Elena Vance is not just our senior logistics auditor, Marcus," Jerry said, his gray eyes flashing like sharpened steel. "She is the grand-niece of Arthur Vance—the founder of the Zurich trust holding sixty-five percent of your sovereign debt covenants. For the past six months, Elena and Caleb have been conducting a forensic audit of the offshore accounts you used to strip Daniels Logistics."
Elena looked directly into Victoria’s stunned eyes. "You thought Shelby was cloning Wallace Maritime’s routing servers last night. What she actually uploaded from that flash drive was the internal ledger of Aegis Sovereign Capital’s illicit money-laundering conduit through the Port of Montreal."
A collective murmur erupted through the ballroom. Several prominent institutional investors immediately backed away from Marcus and Victoria as if they had contracted a plague.
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"You bluffed with a pair of tens, Victoria," Jerry said quietly. "I called your bluff with the house. As of six o'clock this evening, Wallace Holdings executed a debt-for-equity swap on Aegis Sovereign Capital. Marcus, you don't own my company. I own yours."
***
