My Husband Slapped Me and Ordered Me to Kneel—He Never Knew I Owned His Entire Empire / Chapter 14 / 25

Chapter 14 - The ExecutionFriday morning, the atmosphere in the Escalante boardroom was entirely different.

The room was packed. My entire executive team was present, along with the senior members of the board of directors. Marcus sat near the front, looking incredibly smug, clearly waiting for me to announce the collapse of the European merger and offer my resignation.

I walked into the room wearing a sharp, blood-red tailored suit. I didn't look defeated. I looked like an executioner.

Julian sat at my right, leaning back in his chair with an aura of untouchable, lethal confidence.

"Good morning, gentlemen," I said, placing my tablet on the mahogany table. "I know many of you are concerned about the European embargo implemented by Victoria Sterling. I am pleased to announce that as of 8:00 AM this morning, the embargo has been completely lifted. Our cargo ships are currently docking in France."

The room erupted in confused murmurs.

Marcus’s smug smile instantly vanished. He sat up straight, his face turning pale. "Lifted? How? Did you secure the German airline?"

"Oh, no, Marcus," I smiled, locking my eyes onto him. "I didn't buy Aero-Tech Freight. Victoria Sterling bought it."

Marcus froze. He looked around the room, panic flooding his eyes. "But... but if she bought it, she controls the airspace!"

"She controls nothing but toxic debt," I said, my voice slicing through the room like a scalpel. I tapped my tablet, projecting the financial data onto the massive screens behind me. "Victoria bypassed her legal department to execute a hostile, blind acquisition based on stolen corporate intelligence. Intelligence that was fed to her by a mole inside this very room."

The executives gasped, turning to look at one another in horror.

"The airline she bought is a bankrupt shell company," I continued, my voice rising with absolute, unforgiving power. "By absorbing their assets, Sterling Global Logistics instantly assumed six hundred million dollars in federal tax liens. This morning, the European Union froze all of Victoria Sterling’s assets, including her maritime ports. She is currently facing bankruptcy and federal indictment for corporate fraud."

I turned my terrifying gaze back to Marcus.

"And I know exactly who gave her the intel," I whispered.

I pressed a button on my tablet. An audio recording began playing through the boardroom speakers. It was Marcus’s voice, secretly recorded during a burner-phone call he made from his office two nights ago.

"Victoria, it’s Marcus. She’s buying Aero-Tech Freight. If you buy the controlling shares before midnight on Thursday, you cut off her airlift. Do it, and Mariana is finished."

The recording stopped. The silence in the boardroom was so profound you could hear a pin drop.

Marcus was trembling violently. He looked at the board members, then at me, his mouth opening and closing in absolute terror. "Mariana... please... I was trying to protect the company! You’re too young! You don't know what you're doing!"

"I know exactly what I am doing," I said coldly.

Two massive private security guards stepped into the boardroom, moving silently toward Marcus’s chair.

"Marcus, you are terminated, effective immediately," I stated, staring down at the man who had betrayed my father’s trust. "My lawyers have already filed civil and criminal charges against you for corporate espionage. You will be stripped of your pension, your stock options, and your dignity. Escort him out of my building."

As the guards hauled a sobbing, pleading Marcus out of the boardroom, I looked around the table at the remaining executives. They were staring at me with a mixture of profound shock, awe, and absolute, undeniable fear.

"Let this be a permanent lesson to anyone who doubts my leadership," I commanded, my voice echoing in the silent room. "The Escalante empire is mine. If you stand with me, you will thrive. If you betray me, I will burn your world to ashes."