Chapter 5: The Snake in the Boardroom
The emergency room at Greenwich Hospital was quiet and clinical. Margaret was stabilized; doctors confirmed she suffered a severe concussion and three fractured ribs, but her life was out of immediate danger. James sat by her bedside for hours, holding her frail hand until she fell into a deep, medicated sleep.
At 6:00 AM, as the winter sun began to bleed orange light across the horizon, Marcus walked into the private room.
"We traced the authorization code, Mr. Sterling," Marcus reported softly. "It wasn't a rogue hacker. It came directly from Arthur Pendelton’s office."
James looked up slowly. Arthur Pendelton was his late father’s oldest friend, the senior managing partner at Sterling Global Financial, and the man who had recommended Victoria to James three years ago after his father’s passing.
"Arthur..." James murmured, a bitter realization washing over him. "He set this up from the beginning. He introduced her to me."
"It gets deeper, sir," Marcus continued, handing James a printed dossier. "Arthur’s hedge fund was failing three years ago. He used Victoria—whose real name is Victoria Vance, a disgraced former corporate auditor from Chicago—to get inside your family trust. She was meant to systematically isolate you from your mother, gain control of the estate, and liquidate the firm’s reserve assets."
James stood up from the vinyl chair beside his mother’s bed. He buttoned his charcoal suit jacket, adjusting his tie with steady, calculated precision.
"Marcus," James said, his voice flat and terrifyingly calm. "Is the annual shareholder meeting still scheduled for 9:00 AM at the Manhattan headquarters?"
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"Yes, sir. Arthur called an emergency session an hour ago, claiming you were unavailable due to a family tragedy."
James smiled—a cold, predatory expression that reached nowhere near his eyes. "Call my helicopter. It’s time to attend a meeting."
