Chapter 22 - The Phantom Shareholder
By Monday morning, the anomaly had evolved from a minor nuisance into a glaring red flag.
Ethan sat in his expansive corner office overlooking the city. His chief legal counsel, Marcus, laid a thick, encrypted file on the glass desk.
"The firm is called Vanguard Zenith,"
Marcus stated grimly.
"They use layers of proxy directors, but we managed to trace the initial funding capital. It originated from a frozen account tied to your father's old offshore network."
Ethan felt a cold, familiar chill trace its way down his spine.
"My father is legally barred from all financial operations. He is practically under house arrest in his retirement,"
Ethan said, his voice dropping to a dangerous register.
"It isn't your father, Ethan,"
Marcus replied quietly.
"The signature on the proxy transfer belongs to a man named Arthur Vance. Derek's former defense attorney."
Ethan closed his eyes. The ghost of Derek, rotting in a federal cell, was still trying to reach out and pull them back into the dark.
"They are trying to initiate a hostile takeover from the inside out,"
May you like
Ethan realized, opening his eyes with a fierce, absolute resolve.
"Get my car ready, Marcus. I need to pay a visit to a federal penitentiary."
