Chapter 3 - The Boardroom Ambush
Chapter 3 - The Boardroom Ambush
I didn't sleep. I spent the entire night in the guest bedroom of the penthouse, locked inside, pouring over digital copies of the lodge’s corporate bylaws on my laptop. By 8:00 AM, I was dressed in a razor-sharp charcoal suit, my hair pulled back into an uncompromising bun. I was ready for war.
When I entered the glass-walled boardroom overlooking the snow-capped peaks, Thomas was already holding court. He sat at the head of the table—my grandfather’s chair. Alexander Vance sat to his right, looking devastatingly sharp in a tailored navy suit. A team of lawyers flanked them.
"Ah, Elena. How kind of you to join us," Thomas purred, steepling his fingers. "Please, take a seat near the back. We have a lot of restructuring to get through."
"I will stand," I said, dropping a thick leather binder onto the center of the mahogany table with a resounding thud. "And we will not be restructuring anything, Thomas."
Thomas scoffed, looking at Alexander as if apologizing for a misbehaving child. "Elena, Alexander Vance is now the majority shareholder. Your grandfather's estate had massive, undisclosed debts. I, acting as your legal proxy, authorized the sale of the shares to save the company from bankruptcy."
"You forged my signature on a proxy addendum," I stated clearly, the words echoing in the silent room. The lawyers shifted uncomfortably.
"That is a severe accusation," Thomas snarled, his mask slipping. "I am the executor of the estate!"
"You were the executor," I corrected him. I opened the binder and slid a notarized document across the table toward Alexander Vance. "Page four, paragraph twelve of the Sterling Trust. In the event of gross financial negligence by an appointed executor, the beneficiary—me—retains the immediate right to dissolve the proxy."
Alexander picked up the document. His stormy eyes scanned the legal jargon rapidly. He didn't look angry; he looked intrigued. "And what constitutes gross financial negligence, Miss Sterling?" he asked softly.
I pulled out a second stack of papers. "The three million dollars my uncle embezzled over the last two years into a dummy shell company registered in the Cayman Islands. A shell company named Alpine Horizons."
The color drained entirely from Thomas’s face. He lunged across the table, trying to grab the papers, but Alexander Vance’s hand shot out, catching Thomas by the wrist with a vice-like grip.
"Sit down, Thomas," Alexander commanded, his voice devoid of all warmth. He looked at me, a new respect burning in his eyes. "It seems, Miss Sterling, that your uncle sold me stolen goods."
Before anyone could speak, the boardroom doors burst open. Julian stood there, looking disheveled, a pathetic attempt at defiance on his face. "Thomas! She fired me! You promised me a seat on the board if I helped you hide the—"
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Julian froze, realizing exactly who was in the room and what he had just walked into.
I smiled, cold and sharp. "Security," I said quietly into the room's intercom. "Please escort Julian off the mountain. Permanently."
