Chapter 19: The War Room
The moment the doors closed, Marcus collapsed into a chair, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"Lauren, this is a disaster," Marcus panicked, flipping frantically through the shadow contract. "Eleanor forged the board’s authorization signature before she was exiled. It’s highly illegal, but the debt is real. Victor holds the collateral. If we fight him in court, the media will get hold of it. Our stock will plummet. He has us cornered."
"Nobody has me cornered," I said quietly.
I walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking out at the city below. The same city I had conquered five years ago.
"Daniel," I said without turning around. "How did Victor fund a three-hundred-million-dollar cash loan to your mother under the table?"
Daniel walked up beside me, his brow furrowed in thought. "Victor’s equity firm is notorious, but it’s not liquid. He doesn't keep that kind of cash sitting in a vault. He uses leverage."
"Exactly," I said, turning back to face them. A dangerous, brilliant plan was already forming in my mind. "Victor is a raider. He borrows money to crush other companies, then sells them to pay back his loans. To give Eleanor that kind of cash, he had to over-leverage his own primary holding company."
I walked back to my desk and pulled open my laptop.
"Marcus," I commanded, my voice sharp and focused. "I want you to pull every single financial record, creditor list, and outstanding loan attached to Victor Sterling’s primary holding corporation. I want to know who owns his debt."
"Lauren," Marcus stammered. "What are you planning to do?"
May you like
I looked up, offering a smile that was infinitely colder and more terrifying than Victor's.
"He threatened my children," I said softly. "He threatened our legacy. I’m not going to fight him in a courtroom, Marcus. I’m going to bury him alive."
