Chapter 10 - Uncovering a Dangerous Corporate Alliance Behind Vanessa
While Daniel and Grace shared a quiet moment by the fireplace, glowing alerts flashed across the study’s computer screens.
Daniel’s lead corporate counsel, Arthur Vance, dialed his private cell phone with an urgent, breathless message.
Daniel stood up from the sofa, excused himself politely to Grace, and walked briskly up the grand staircase to answer.
“Talk to me, Arthur; what did you find on Vanessa’s laptop?” Daniel demanded into the phone receiver.
“It’s worse than we thought, Daniel,” Arthur’s grave voice echoed through the secure encrypted line.
“Vanessa wasn't just acting as a social climber; she was passing confidential Whitfield Development bids to your main rival.”
Daniel’s grip on his smartphone tightened until his knuckles turned white against the metallic casing.
“Marcus Vance,” Daniel stated, naming the ruthless real estate developer who had tried to buy him out twice.
“The exact same Marcus Vance,” Arthur confirmed grimly from his downtown Charlotte corner office.
“They coordinated the fake bracelet theft to distract your attention while she downloaded commercial zoning blueprints.”
Daniel stared out the dark hallway window toward the glistening waters of Lake Norman under the moonlight.
“She was setting me up for a federal corporate espionage investigation from the inside,” Daniel realized aloud.
“Exactly; Marcus planned to use the stolen zoning files to undercut our bid on the uptown municipal skyscraper project.”
“When is the municipal bidding deadline?” Daniel asked, his business instincts instantly kicking into high gear.
“Monday morning at nine o’clock sharp,” Arthur replied.
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“Then we have less than forty-eight hours to lock down our encrypted servers and rewrite the entire structural proposal,” Daniel said.
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