Chapter 3: The Empire Crumbles
Evelyn’s face turned an ugly, mottled shade of purple. She stepped forward, her aristocratic poise completely shattering. "This is ridiculous! This is a conspiracy! You crazy bitch, you’re trying to trick my son! Daniel, call the police! Have this ungrateful peasant thrown out of our house!"
One of the massive security guards stepped forward, his shadow completely enveloping Evelyn. She instantly shrunk back, clutching her mink shawl to her chest in sudden terror.
"The police have already been notified, Mrs. Sterling," Marcus Sterling, the billionaire investor, said with deep disgust. He looked at Daniel as if he were a cockroach. "In fact, they are currently waiting outside the gates. They are simply waiting for us to finish our official corporate briefing."
Daniel’s face was entirely bloodless now. "Briefing? Marcus, please, whatever Clara told you, she’s lying! She’s unstable! She fell down the stairs last night, that’s why her face is swollen—"
"Quiet," Marcus snapped, slamming his hand on the mahogany table. The silver platters rattled. "We have already listened to the audio recording from last night, Daniel. We heard the slaps. We heard your mother encouraging you. We heard you bragging on the phone about breaking her like an animal."
Marcus shook his head, his eyes burning with fury. "My own daughter survived domestic abuse, Daniel. I have zero tolerance for monsters. As of 12:01 AM this morning, I have pulled all of my funding from the Sterling Group. Furthermore, I am calling in the twenty-million-dollar personal loan I granted you last quarter. I want it paid by noon today."
Daniel gasped, suffocating on his own panic. "Noon? I don't have that kind of liquidity! Everything is tied up in the company shares!"
"Ah, yes. The shares," Arthur Vance interrupted smoothly, sliding a legal document across the long table. It slid perfectly, stopping right in front of Daniel’s trembling hands. "Please look at page four, section B of your corporate charter. The charter you signed when you accepted funding from Apex Holdings."
Daniel lowered his eyes to the paper, his hands shaking so violently he could barely read the text.
"Since you have breached the moral turpitude clause of the investment contract by committing a felony domestic assault," Arthur explained with a terrifyingly calm smile, "Apex Holdings has exercised its right to seize your voting shares. As of ten minutes ago, you have been officially terminated as CEO of your own company. You own nothing. You control nothing."
"No... no, no, no, you can't do this!" Daniel screamed, dropping to his knees. He looked up at me, tears of absolute panic finally welling in his eyes. The arrogant king of the kitchen was gone; only a pathetic, desperate boy remained. "Clara, please! I love you! It was the whiskey! I was stressed about the business! Please don't do this to me!"
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Evelyn looked like she was about to faint herself, her hands shaking as she realized the golden life they had stolen was evaporating in seconds. "Clara... we are family... surely we can discuss this privately..."
"Family?" I asked, looking down at them from the head of the table. "You told me last night a wife must be corrected early. Consider this my correction to you."
