Chapter 17 - The Boardroom Siege
By two o'clock that afternoon, the news of the court ruling had detonated across Wall Street.
Trading on Bellamy Maritime shares was halted after a forty-percent freefall. In a high-rise conference room overlooking the Puget Sound, the board of directors of Nemesis Holdings sat in terrified silence as Daniel Mercer, flanked by Natalie and Mia, walked into the room without an appointment.
Victoria was already there, pacing like a caged panther before the panoramic windows.
"Get out of my building," she whispered, her voice shaking with humiliation.
"Check the court registry," Natalie said, tossing a certified copy of Judge Vance’s preliminary injunction onto the glass table. "The court has appointed an interim receiver. As of twenty minutes ago, Daniel Mercer holds voting control over every share in this room."
The directors, seasoned corporate vultures who had spent their lives serving the Bellamy wealth, looked at one another and quietly began gathering their files.
"Cowards!" Victoria screamed at them. "He’s an eighty-year-old relic! He doesn't know how to run a modern container fleet! Stand your ground!"
"The board serves the equity, Ms. Bellamy," the senior director muttered, avoiding her gaze as he slipped toward the exit. "And right now, Mercer *is* the equity."
Within minutes, the boardroom emptied until only Victoria, Daniel, Natalie, and Mia remained. The rain had ceased outside, leaving the city skyline bathed in a sharp, cold November light.
Victoria leaned against the glass, her breath fogging the windowpane. "You think you won, Daniel? You humiliated my mother on her wedding day. You left her to be ridiculed by every society matron from Boston to Seattle. She never recovered. She spent the rest of her life in dark rooms, drinking herself to death while you built your empire."
"Your mother disgraced herself," Daniel replied, his voice devoid of anger, filled only with the heavy sadness of decades. "She threw that bucket not because she was proud, but because she was desperate. She thought that if she humiliated Eleanor enough, my mother would leave in tears and the theft would go unnoticed. She underestimated Eleanor. And you underestimated the truth."
May you like
Victoria turned around, a dark, venomous smile spreading across her lips. "Did I?"
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