Chapter 13 - The Midnight Meeting At Headquarters
Midnight at Sterling & Vance Global headquarters was quiet, save for the faint hum of servers cooling down on the 48th floor. Ivan walked out of the private executive elevator holding his encrypted flash drive containing Marcus’s full confession.
The door to Jessi’s office was cracked open, casting a warm sliver of light across the dark hallway. Ivan pushed the door open to find Jessi standing by the window without her orthopedic brace, leaning against the glass as she gazed out at the skyline.
“You’re bleeding,” Jessi noted immediately, turning around and spotting a small scratch across Ivan’s cheekbone. “Marcus tried to play dirty at an abandoned warehouse in Brooklyn,” Ivan reported calmly, stepping further into the room.
Jessi walked over, her steps steady as she grabbed a clean medical wipe from her desk drawer and gently dabbed the cut. “You could have been killed, Ivan,” she whispered, her gray eyes filled with a sudden, intense wave of vulnerability.
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“I told you, Mrs. Sterling—nobody touches my family, and nobody touches this company,” Ivan answered, holding her gaze without blinking. Jessi’s hand lingered on his cheek for a fraction of a second longer than necessary before she stepped back.
“Arthur and Marcus are finished,” Ivan continued, placing the flash drive on her desk. “With Marcus’s confession and the financial records, the board will vote to strip them of their shares by sunrise.”
