Chapter 4 - The Boardroom Slaughter
Three people stood up from the mahogany table, pasting eager, desperate smiles onto their faces as they prepared to beg the billionaire CEO for a lucrative buyout.
The man standing in the center froze.
His eager smile instantly vanished. The color drained from his face so rapidly he looked like a corpse. His hands began to shake, his briefcase slipping from his fingers and hitting the carpet with a dull thud. Beside him, Sarah Jenkins gasped, instinctively taking a step backward.
It was Daniel.
He was older, his hairline receding, deep, harsh lines of stress etched into his face. He looked absolutely miserable. He stared at me, his eyes wide with a mixture of sheer, unadulterated horror and impossible disbelief.
“Elena?” Daniel choked out, his voice cracking violently in the silent boardroom.
My CFO looked at me, confused. “Do you know each other, Ms. Vance?”
“We used to,” I said smoothly, my voice echoing with an absolute, uncompromising authority. I walked to the head of the table and sat down in the plush leather chair, crossing my legs. I didn't break eye contact with Daniel. “Please. Have a seat.”
Daniel practically collapsed into his chair. He couldn't breathe. The realization of what was happening was crushing him in real-time. The anonymous, untouchable billionaire who held the fate of his entire miserable career in her hands was the exact same woman he had left crying in an apartment with unpaid bills.
“Daniel,” I said, opening the financial dossier on the table. “I see Carter Analytics is carrying twelve million dollars in toxic debt. You are asking Aether to absorb your liabilities in exchange for your intellectual property.”
Daniel swallowed hard, sweat beading on his forehead. “Elena, please... I didn't know this was your company. We lost our major contracts. The software crashed. I’ve been trying to find you for years. I lost everything. I’m drowning.”
“That sounds like a personal problem, Daniel,” I interrupted sharply, the ice in my tone freezing the entire room. “And frankly, I don't care. I am here to discuss the intellectual property you claim to own.”
I slid a certified legal document across the table.
“Aether Dynamics is not buying your company, Daniel,” I stated clearly, leaning back in my chair. “We are foreclosing on it. As the original, legally documented author and copyright holder of the foundational code you stole five years ago, my legal team has successfully filed a massive intellectual property lawsuit against you. You don't own your software. You own twelve million dollars of debt, and a massive impending federal fraud investigation.”
Sarah Jenkins shrieked, pointing a shaking finger at Daniel. “You told me you owned the code! You said she had no legal claim to it!”
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“I... I thought I did!” Daniel stammered, his eyes wild with panic as he looked at me. “Elena, you can't do this! You'll send me to prison! You can't just erase my life!”
“You erased mine in five minutes,” I replied, staring directly into the eyes of the coward who had broken my heart. “You looked at me holding our newborn daughters, and you told me it wasn't your fault I was tired. You told me you couldn't do it anymore. Well, Daniel. Now you don't have to.”
