Chapter 24 - The Leverage
The following morning, Victoria summoned Sterling, the senior corporate attorney, to her office. The man arrived exactly on time, his expensive suit doing little to hide the subtle sheen of cold sweat on his forehead. He sat in the leather chair opposite Victoria’s desk, his posture rigidly defensive.
Victoria did not look at him immediately. She continued to sign a stack of acquisition documents, the scratch of her gold fountain pen the only sound in the room. She allowed the heavy, dramatic tension to suffocate him for three agonizing minutes.
Finally, she set the pen down. Her slow eye movement lifted, locking onto his pale face.
"The Archon Group," Victoria spoke. The baritone-soft whisper hit the room with the kinetic force of a bullet.
Sterling flinched violently. A genuine, unrestrained flash of terror broke through his professional training. He instinctively grabbed the armrests of his chair, his knuckles turning white.
"Miss Victoria... I... I don't know what you are referring to," Sterling stuttered, his voice cracking.
Victoria leaned forward slightly, resting her forearms on the desk. The cinematic realism of her interrogation required no physical violence. Her gaze was a scalpel, peeling back his lies.
"Do not insult my intelligence, Sterling," Victoria murmured softly. "My mother used your escrow accounts to transfer the payments to the fraudulent pediatricians. You facilitated the transaction for the Archon Group to declare my son genetically compromised."
Sterling squeezed his eyes shut, his chest heaving as a quiet sob of panic escaped his throat.
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"Give me the names of the Archon board members," Victoria commanded quietly, her jaw clenching with restrained, absolute fury. "Give them to me, and you will walk out of this building with a generous severance. Refuse, and Marcus will escort you to the sub-basement, where you will slowly cease to exist."
Sterling opened his eyes, staring into the dark, merciless void of Victoria’s gaze. He reached for his briefcase with trembling hands.
