Chapter 2 - The Hemorrhage
By 8:00 a.m. Monday morning, my corporate empire was violently bleeding out.
I burst through the glass doors of Morgan Holdings, expecting my staff to be preparing for our quarterly earnings call. Instead, the trading floor was in absolute, chaotic panic. My CFO, Richard, practically ran down the hallway to intercept me, clutching a red folder against his chest.
“We lost them, Daniel,” Richard gasped, sweating through his silk tie.
“Lost who?”
“All of them. Apex Logistics. Vanguard Shipping. The defense contracts.” Richard shoved the folder into my chest. “They all refused to renew their licensing agreements this morning. They invoked the immediate exit clauses.”
“That’s impossible!” I roared, snatching the folder. “Those contracts account for sixty percent of our revenue! Where are they going?”
Richard looked at me with a mixture of terror and pity. “They signed exclusive, ten-year contracts with Bennett Innovations. Their new AI protocols make our software look like a pocket calculator. And Daniel... it gets worse.”
I didn't think it could get worse. Then Richard pointed to the door of our lead development lab. It was dark. The desks were empty.
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“Your top twelve engineers resigned at midnight on Friday,” Richard said quietly. “They didn't break their non-competes. Claire bought out their contracts.”
My knees nearly buckled. Claire hadn't just built a new company. She had systematically dismantled mine from the inside out, waiting for the exact moment the divorce decree severed our financial liabilities to pull the trigger.
