Chapter 15 - The Corporate Coup
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The boardroom of Caldwell Development Group was a glass-walled fortress on the fiftieth floor of their San Diego headquarters. The mood inside was catastrophic.
Warren Caldwell sat at the head of the long oak table, looking haggard and vicious. Grant sat to his right, sweating profusely, chewing on his thumbnail. Twelve wealthy board members shouted over one another, demanding answers about the plunging stock prices and the federal warrants being executed on their subsidiary offices.
"Order!" Warren roared, slamming his fist on the table. "We are Caldwells! We will weather this storm. The girl is a hysterical liar, and we have lawyers working around the clock to discredit her!"
The heavy mahogany doors to the boardroom suddenly swung open.
Marcus walked in first, sweeping the room with a cold glare. Matthew Kane followed, carrying his leather briefcase.
And finally, Lena rolled herself into the room, her cast resting on the elevated leg rest of her wheelchair.
Grant stood up so fast his chair tipped over. "Lena! How the hell did you get past security?"
"Sit down, Grant," Lena commanded, her voice slicing through the room like a whip.
"You have no right to be here!" Warren snarled, his face turning purple. "Security! Remove this woman!"
"I have every right to be here, Warren," Lena said, rolling directly to the opposite head of the table. She looked at Matthew, who opened his briefcase and began passing thick, bound legal dossiers to the board members.
"What is this?" a confused board member asked, flipping through the pages.
"Those are ownership proxies," Matthew Kane announced smoothly, adjusting his glasses. "Representing the offshore holdings that have been acquiring your dumped stock over the last two weeks. As of this morning, Mrs. Lena Caldwell is the controlling voice of a thirteen percent voting bloc."
The room went dead silent.
Warren’s jaw dropped. "Thirteen percent? That’s impossible."
"I am officially calling for a vote of no confidence," Lena stated, looking directly into Warren’s panicked eyes. "Immediate suspension of Grant Caldwell as CEO. And the forced resignation of Warren Caldwell as Chairman, pending federal investigation."
Grant looked like he was going to vomit. He looked at the board members. "You can't listen to her! She’s my wife! She’s acting on emotion!"
The oldest board member closed the dossier, looked at the undeniable proof of fraud, and raised his hand.
May you like
"I second the motion to remove," he said quietly.
One by one, the hands went up. The Caldwell empire was officially out of Caldwell hands.
