Chapter 5
The Corporate Counter-Strike
By morning, the financial markets opened, and the fallout was catastrophic for Vance Holdings. The company's stock plummeted by twenty-four percent within the first hour of trading. Institutional investors were pulling their funding by the hundreds of millions, terrified of being associated with a child-trafficking scandal.
Inside the glass-walled boardroom of Vance Enterprises, Eleanor sat at the head of the table, her eyes bloodshot but her demeanor sharp and aggressive. Surrounding her were six of the most expensive defense attorneys in the country.
"I don't care what the public thinks!" Eleanor slammed her hand on the mahogany table. "The DNA results are out—the girl is the biological mother. We can no longer deny that. Our strategy must pivot immediately to custody. We attack her character, her mental stability, and her financial status. We frame it as a tragic case of a wealthy family trying to protect an innocent child from a disturbed, unstable biological mother."
"It won't work, Eleanor," Arthur said, stepping into the boardroom unannounced, throwing a legal document onto the center of the table.
Eleanor glared at her nephew. "Arthur, you are the chief legal counsel for this firm. Your duty is to protect the asset!"
"My duty is to the law, and to the memory of Clara’s father, who built fifty percent of this company before you pushed him out," Arthur said coldly. "This is an emergency resolution signed by the majority of the board of directors. As of ten minutes ago, Eleanor, you have been stripped of your title as CEO and suspended from all executive duties pending the outcome of the federal investigation."
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Eleanor laughed, a sharp, hysterical sound. "You can't remove me! I own the controlling block of shares!"
"You did," Arthur countered, a slow smile touching his lips. "But since Leo is legally recognized as Clara's biological son, the court has placed a temporary freeze on all trust assets associated with his name. Without those trust shares, your ownership drops to forty percent. You're an outsider in your own company, Aunt Eleanor."
