Marcus smiled on the video. “My brother is too trusting. He built the company, but he doesn’t know how to protect it. Once we activate the medical proxy, the board will have no choice but to hand me the reigns as acting CEO.”
David paused the video.
Medical proxy.
He scrambled to grab the blue document sitting on his desk. He had been so focused on the power of attorney and the real estate deeds that he hadn’t read the attached pages.
He flipped through the soaked, wrinkled paper.
There it was. A fraudulent medical addendum. It stated that David was suffering from early-onset cognitive decline, and that his wife, Sarah, was granted full authority to make medical and financial decisions on his behalf.
If they filed this with the state and presented it to the corporate board, David’s accounts would be locked instantly. He would have to fight a massive, expensive legal battle just to prove his own sanity.
And Marcus would take over the company in the meantime.
Suddenly, David’s phone buzzed on the desk.
An incoming email notification popped up on his screen. The subject line made his blood run cold.
URGENT: Executive Leadership Transition – David Vance
David opened the email. It was sent from Marcus’s corporate address to the entire board of directors, with David CC’d.
The email read:
To the Board,
It is with a heavy heart that I must inform you of a serious medical incident involving our CEO, David Vance, at his home tonight. His erratic behavior has become a danger to his family and the company. Attached are the digitally certified copies of his medical proxy and power of attorney, granting his wife, Sarah, and myself temporary control over his assets and corporate voting rights.
We have already initiated a lock on all primary corporate accounts to protect the company’s capital. I will be assuming the role of Acting CEO effective immediately.
Marcus Vance.
David stared at the screen.
They didn’t have the original document. Leo had ruined their plan to physically smuggle the paperwork to the corporate lawyers in New York.
But Marcus was doubling down. He had taken a scan of the notarized document before Sarah sewed it into her dress, and he was using the digital copy to force a hostile takeover right now.
David’s phone rang.
It was Marcus.
David took a deep breath, steadied his shaking hands, and answered the call. He put it on speakerphone.
“Did you get my email, Dave?” Marcus asked. He sounded incredibly smug.
“You can’t do this, Marcus,” David said, forcing his voice to sound panicked and weak. He needed Marcus to think he was winning.
“I already did,” Marcus laughed. “The board is terrified. They saw your kid throw a violent fit tonight, and they saw you physically attack me when I tried to help your wife. The narrative is already set. You’re having a breakdown.”
“I have the original paperwork,” David said. “I can prove it’s fraudulent.”
“By the time you get a judge to look at that wet, torn piece of garbage, I’ll have drained the offshore accounts and relocated the corporate headquarters,” Marcus replied smoothly. “Sarah and I have been planning this for a year. You lost.”
“What do you want?” David asked.
“I want the original document,” Marcus said, his voice turning cold. “I need the physical copy to transfer the real estate deeds. Bring the papers to my office at headquarters tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM. Just you and me. You sign the severance agreement quietly, and I’ll make sure you get a nice little allowance to take care of your crazy kid.”
“And if I don’t?” David asked.
“Then I release a statement to the press tomorrow at 9:00 AM saying you attacked your wife and have been placed under psychiatric hold,” Marcus threatened. “Your reputation will be completely destroyed.”
David looked at the paused video on his screen. He looked at the crystal-clear footage of Marcus and Sarah kissing. He looked at the face of the locksmith, clear as day.
“Okay,” David said softly. “Tomorrow at 8:00 AM. In the main boardroom.”
“Smart choice, big brother,” Marcus sneered.
The line went dead.
David set the phone down. The fear and panic completely vanished from his face, replaced by a cold, calculating rage.
Marcus thought he had outsmarted him. Marcus thought he held all the cards.
He had no idea that David had just recorded the entire phone call. He had no idea about the hidden camera in the office. And he had no idea what David was about to do.
David picked up his phone and dialed his personal lawyer, Robert.
“Robert,” David said the moment the man answered. “Wake up the head of corporate security. I don’t care what time it is. I need the main boardroom completely wired for sound and video by 7:00 AM tomorrow.”
“David? What’s going on?” Robert asked, his voice thick with sleep.
“Marcus and Sarah just tried to steal the company,” David said, his eyes locked on the ruined blue document on his desk. “But tomorrow morning, I’m going to let them dig their own graves.”
— CHAPTER 3 —
At 7:45 the next morning, the glass doors of Vance Enterprises on the fourteenth floor were completely unlocked.
David Vance sat alone at the far end of the thirty-foot mahogany boardroom table. The morning sun poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking downtown Chicago, cutting long, sharp shadows across the polished wood.
In front of David sat a single manila folder. Beside it rested a digital voice recorder and a cup of black coffee that had already gone cold.
The heavy frosted-glass doors of the boardroom swung open precisely at 7:58 AM.
