Chapter 3 - The Boardroom in the Pews
The church erupted. Board members of Whitmore Hospitality, seated in the VIP section, began murmuring frantically to one another.
"That is defamatory!" Richard roared, his face turning an angry, mottled purple. "I will sue you into oblivion! I will take everything you own!"
"You can't," Aaliyah replied, a cold, surgical smile touching her lips. "Because I own more than you do."
Richard froze.
"When you forced me out, I didn't stay broken," Aaliyah stated, her voice ringing with the absolute power of a self-made titan. "I took my recipes, and I built an empire. The Brooks Culinary Group. We own forty-two high-end restaurants across the East Coast. And three weeks ago, my holding company quietly purchased Whitmore Hospitality's mezzanine debt when your lenders realized your financials were fabricated."
She snapped the folder shut.
"I am your primary creditor, Richard. If you try to remove me from this church, I will call in the debt by 5:00 p.m. today, and Whitmore Hospitality will be in receivership before your son finishes his first dance."
May you like
Arthur Shaw, realizing his family was about to merge with a bankrupt fraudster, turned to his daughter. "Madeline. Step down from the altar. Now."
Madeline didn't hesitate. She looked at Caleb with a mixture of pity and disgust, dropped her five-hundred-dollar bouquet on the marble steps, and walked down the aisle, her silk gown trailing behind her. The wedding was officially over. The execution had begun.
