Chapter 3: The Boardroom Execution
By 9:00 AM the following morning, the atmosphere on the forty-fourth floor of the Vanguard Tower was less like a corporate headquarters and more like a military command center during a coup. The glass walls reflected a grey, rainy Manhattan sky, and the sound of frantic typing and hushed phone calls filled the corridors.
Julian stormed through the double doors, his tie loosened, his eyes bloodshot. He hadn't slept a single second. Chloe was at home, locked in the master bedroom of the penthouse, screaming at estate agents because the corporate maintenance fees on the property had been declined at midnight.
"Where is Marcus?" Julian roared at his executive assistant, a young man named David who was currently packing his own desk into a cardboard box.
David didn't look up. "Mr. Vance—sorry, Julian—Mr. Marcus was reassigned to the European logistics division at 6:00 AM. His corporate credentials have been deactivated."
"On whose authority?"
"Mine."
Julian spun around. Victoria was standing at the end of the hallway, flanked by two men in dark, identical suits—members of the elite corporate security firm Gideon Advisory. She didn't have her gala gown on today; she wore a charcoal-grey tailored power suit, a stark contrast to the chaotic state of the office.
"Get out of my office, Victoria," Julian snarled, taking three aggressive steps toward her. "The board meeting isn't until noon. I am still the presiding CEO of this firm, and I will have security escort you out for corporate espionage."
The two men in suits didn't move an inch, but their posture shifted slightly, their shoulders broadening in a way that made Julian stop dead in his tracks.
"The board meeting was moved to 8:00 AM, Julian," Victoria said, walking past him into the main conference room without a glance. "You were noticed via your corporate email address. Oh, wait. I forgot. Your corporate email address was deactivated at 7:45 AM due to a security breach regarding unauthorized expense reports."
Julian followed her into the boardroom, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird. The massive mahogany table was surrounded by the twelve members of the Vanguard Board of Directors—men and women who had given him a standing ovation just forty-eight hours prior. Today, they sat in absolute silence, their tablets open, their faces grim and unreadable.
"What is the meaning of this?" Julian demanded, slamming his hand onto the table. "Arthur! Eleanor! You voted for the restructuring! We have a five-year plan!"
Arthur, an elder statesman of the Wall Street establishment, looked at Julian with a mixture of pity and clinical indifference. "The parameters of the voting structure changed at midnight, Julian. We don't vote based on our personal affection for you. We vote based on equity. And currently, Madame Vance holds the absolute majority. Your position is... no longer tenable."
"She’s a minority holder!" Julian yelled, his voice cracking. "The divorce decree—"
"The divorce decree settled the division of personal assets," Eleanor, the lead legal counsel for the board, interrupted smoothly. "It did not, however, alter the corporate bylaws of Vanguard Group’s parent registry in Luxembourg. Victoria Vance does not own shares through her personal name, Julian. She owns them through the sovereign easement we accepted during the Series B funding round. You signed that agreement in 2021."
Julian felt the room tilt. 2021. The year he had been so focused on getting his face on the cover of Forbes that he had signed thirty different funding documents in a single weekend, celebrating at a club in Miami while Victoria sat in the hotel room with the legal teams.
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"You’re firing me?" Julian whispered, looking at the board. "From the company I built?"
"You didn't build it, Julian," Victoria said from the head of the table, her hands resting flat on the mahogany surface. "You narrated it. And today, the story changes characters."
