Chapter 4: The Final Boardroom
Monday morning in Manhattan. The rain lashed against the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Vanderwald Enterprises boardroom on the 50th floor. The atmosphere inside was suffocatingly tense. The board of directors, a group of elderly, conservative men in grey suits, muttered nervously among themselves.
At the head of the massive mahogany table sat Beatrice, her hands gripping her cane tightly. Daniel stood by the projector, trying to maintain his composed facade, but the bags under his eyes betrayed his panic. He had spent the entire weekend trying to block the hostile takeover, only to find that Vanguard Holdings had outmaneuvered him at every legal turn.
The heavy glass doors swung open. Victoria Vance walked in, flanked by a team of high-powered corporate attorneys. But there was someone else with her.
Walking quietly behind Victoria, holding a thick folder of documents, was Maria.
The maid.
She was no longer crying. She was no longer wearing a grey uniform. Maria wore a sharp, tailored business suit, her head held high. Over the last five years, Victoria had tracked Maria down, pulling her out of the poverty the Vanderwalds had forced her into after firing her to keep her quiet. Maria had become Victoria’s most trusted assistant and her key witness.
Beatrice gasped, her cane clattering to the floor. Daniel’s cold mask finally shattered, his eyes widening in pure, unadulterated horror as he stared at Victoria. The blood-red lips, the dark hair, the fierce, unyielding eyes.
"Eleanor," Daniel whispered, his voice trembling for the first time in his life.
"Eleanor died five years ago, Daniel. She drowned because you cut the rope," Victoria said loudly, her voice echoing off the glass walls. She threw a heavy stack of files onto the center of the table. "I am Victoria Vance. I am the majority shareholder of this company. And as of this morning, you are both fired."
"You can't do this!" Beatrice shrieked, standing up, her aristocratic composure completely destroyed. "Security! Get this woman out of here! She is a fraud!"
"The only frauds here are you and your sociopathic son," Victoria snapped, leaning over the table, her presence completely dominating the room. She turned to the board of directors. "Gentlemen, the files in front of you contain irrefutable proof of massive corporate embezzlement, offshore tax evasion, and wire fraud committed by Daniel and Beatrice Vanderwald. But that’s just the financial side."
Maria stepped forward, plugging a small flash drive into the boardroom's central console. The massive screen at the end of the room flickered to life.
"Five years ago," Maria said, her voice steady and strong, "I was forced to wear a hidden security bodycam by the estate manager to ensure I wasn't stealing. That camera recorded everything on the balcony that night."
The video played. The high-definition footage showed the terrifying drop, Eleanor’s desperate pleas, Beatrice’s ruthless command, and finally, Daniel calmly flicking open the switchblade and cutting the rope.
The board members gasped in collective horror. Men covered their mouths; others backed away from Daniel as if he were diseased.
"I forwarded that video to the FBI, the SEC, and the Rhode Island State Police an hour ago," Victoria said, checking her gold watch. "In fact, they should be arriving in the lobby right about... now."
Right on cue, the boardroom doors burst open, and heavily armed federal agents stormed into the room.
"Daniel and Beatrice Vanderwald, you are under arrest for attempted murder, conspiracy, and massive federal financial fraud," the lead agent barked, pulling out handcuffs.
Daniel didn't fight. He stood perfectly still, his mind unable to process the absolute, devastating totality of his defeat. As the cold steel cuffs snapped around his wrists, he looked at Victoria.
"The baby?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper.
May you like
Victoria walked up to him, stopping just inches away.
"His name is Leo," she whispered, her eyes blazing with triumphant fire. "And he will never, ever know your name."
