CHAPTER 4
Eleanor let out a sharp, horrified gasp, grabbing Richard’s shoulder. "One dollar?! Richard, our entire net worth is tied up in those shares! We'll be ruined!"
"You're already ruined, Eleanor," Nadia interjected smoothly, stepping forward with an electronic signature pad. "If Colonel Mercer doesn't acquire the firm today, the SEC will execute a federal search warrant on your Greenwich estate at two o'clock this afternoon."
Richard stared at the electronic pen Nadia held out, his entire body shaking as if he were freezing in a snowstorm.
He had spent thirty years building an empire on arrogance, fear, and illegal accounting tricks, treating everyone around him like disposable tools.
Now, the daughter he had cast out like trash held his total freedom, his reputation, and his physical liberty in her hands.
"If... if I sign this," Richard whispered, his voice hoarse and broken, "will you stop the federal audit?"
"The SEC investigation into your past crimes is out of my hands, Richard," I replied coldly, leaning down so my face was inches from his. "But acquiring the firm allows me to cover the missing twenty million dollars in logistics funds, saving Mercer Freight from bankruptcy."
"You get to walk away without losing the Greenwich home," I added, "but your control over the family fortune ends today."
With trembling, clumsy fingers, Richard took the electronic pen, his hand shaking so violently he almost dropped it twice onto the glass table.
He pressed the stylus against the screen, scribbling his signature across the line that stripped him of every single share of stock he owned.
Eleanor sank onto the sofa, weeping hysterically into her hands as the full reality of their absolute downfall crashed down upon them.
The moment the screen flashed TRANSFER COMPLETE, I took the digital pad from Nadia and tapped a command on my smartphone.
May you like
The heavy mahogany doors of the boardroom opened, and four uniformed security officers from Aegis Ledger stepped into the room.
"Escort Mr. and Mrs. Mercer off the premises," I commanded firmly. "Revoke their building access codes permanently."
