Chapter 4 - The Liquidation
The color drained out of Thad's face so fast he looked as though he were going to pass out.
Eleanor dropped her champagne flute. It shattered against the hardwood floor.
"You... you read my private emails?" Thad choked out, standing up, his chest heaving with panic. "Sarah, that's illegal!"
"You routed them through company servers while I was the registered compliance officer," I corrected, my voice dropping to a lethal, vibrating calm. "It’s not illegal, Thad. It's called due diligence."
"Turn that off!" Harrison roared, his face flushing crimson. "You arrogant little girl! You are fired! Pack your desk and get out of my building!"
I looked at the furious patriarch. Then, I pulled a sleek black folder from my briefcase and tossed it onto the center of the table.
"It's not your building anymore, Harrison," I whispered.
The silence that followed was absolute.
"What are you talking about?" Thad demanded, his voice cracking.
"Did you really think I spent five years fixing your family's incompetence just to leave my name off the deed?" I asked, looking down at the four of them with chilling indifference. "The bridge loan that saved this company from bankruptcy four months ago? The private equity firm that bought your debt?"
I smiled. It was the smile of an apex predator closing its jaws.
"I am the majority stakeholder of that private equity firm. I bought your debt using the bonuses you were too stupid to realize I was deferring into a blind trust. I own every single asset, every contract, and every brick of Thorn Development."
Laurel’s mouth fell open. She slowly pulled her hand away from Thad's.
"No," Thad gasped, stepping backward, the arrogant soldier completely dissolving into a terrified boy. "Sarah, please. You can't."
"I am calling in the loan," I decreed, my voice echoing through the boardroom. "The company is in default. The liquidation paperwork was filed at 4:00 p.m. today. Your corporate accounts are frozen, your foundation is bankrupt, and your cars will be repossessed by morning."
"Sarah, please!" Eleanor sobbed, the polished socialite completely shattering. "This is our family's legacy!"
"Your legacy is fraud," I said.
I turned and walked toward the glass doors.
"Wait!" Thad screamed, rushing after me, reaching out to grab my arm. "I'm sorry! Laurel means nothing! It was my mother's idea! I love you!"
He was throwing both his mistress and his mother to the wolves to save his own skin.
I looked at his hand hovering near my sleeve. I didn't flinch. I just looked at him with such absolute disgust that he physically recoiled.
May you like
"Keep the challenge coin, Laurel," I said without looking back at her. "You're going to need something to pawn for your taxi fare."
I walked out of the glass tower, leaving the man who thought he could use me drowning in the ashes of the empire he had just lost.
