Chapter 22
Monday morning, the atmosphere at the Vance-Hale Global skyscraper was suffocating and thick, like the air before a violent tropical storm. Employees walked in near-absolute silence, casting furtive, evasive glances at one another, while the senior executives sweated profusely, sitting paralyzed in the reinforced glass boardroom on the top floor. Brooke Vance sat at the center, wearing a sharply tailored black suit that accentuated her power, her hair pulled back in a severe, flawless bun.
"I have reviewed the third-quarter financial reports for the R&D division," Brooke announced, shattering the stifling silence. Her tone was smooth but carried the weight of a death sentence, pushing a thick stack of files toward the center of the crystal table. "And I discovered that, under Garrett Hale's tenure, hundreds of millions of dollars earmarked for research and development were siphoned through a sophisticated network of shell companies registered in the Cayman Islands."
The financial directors—men in expensive suits who now looked as pathetic as cornered rats—stammered, trying to explain that they were coerced by Garrett's absolute executive authority. One man nervously wiped the sweat from his brow, swearing they had no choice. But Brooke didn't blink. Her eyes were like a bottomless swamp, swallowing every lie.
"I didn't call you here to listen to cheap excuses," she cut them off, her tone sharp as broken glass. "I called you here to deliver a single ultimatum. Anyone in this room involved in Garrett's financial decisions, even if just with a preliminary signature, must submit their resignation immediately and vacate this building within twenty-four hours."
A veteran board member stood up abruptly, his face red with a mix of anger and panic. He vehemently protested, arguing that mass executive firings would send the stock market into a panic and destroy investor confidence.
Brooke slowly stood up, planting both hands on the table. The invisible pressure of a multi-billion dollar dynasty radiated from her, crushing all will to resist. "Listen closely. If the market panics, I will use the Vance family's private trust to buy up all floating shares at rock bottom, ready to take this conglomerate entirely private under my exclusive ownership before any of you can even blink."
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Thick severance envelopes were slammed onto the table by Vance security personnel. "The choice is simple: sign the resignation, take the money, and leave in silence. Or stubbornly stay, and face the FBI task force tomorrow morning along with documentation proving money laundering and fraud."
At that exact moment, Brooke's encrypted phone vibrated with an urgent message from Cole. The message was incredibly brief but carried lethal information: the person who gave the phone to Garrett had been found. He had just received half a million dollars from an anonymous organization called the "Black Lotus." Brooke gripped her phone, a vicious smile playing on her lips. The internal purge was complete; now it was time to hunt the ghosts outside.
