Chapter 23 - The Poison Pill | By noon the next day, the emergency board meeting was in full swing. The directors were nervous, whispering among themselves like school children waiting for a storm. I sat at the head of the dark mahogany table, wearing a tailored navy suit that felt like armor.
"Claire, the rumors are already circulating," warned Arthur Pendelton, one of the senior board members. "If news breaks that Richard Vance is targeting this board, stock prices will plummet."
"News won't break, Arthur, because we control the narrative," I replied coolly, placing my hands flat on the table. "Richard is using the remnants of Vance Global’s hidden assets to fund an attack on us. Today, we execute a hostile buyout of those remaining assets."
The room erupted into shocked chatter.
"That's suicide!" Arthur protested. "Those assets are toxic! They're tied up in international litigation!"
"They are tied up in litigation that I hold the key to," I countered, leaning forward. "If we acquire Vance Global’s residual holdings today, we instantly seize control of his primary offshore accounts. We freeze his money before he can pay the rest of the retainer to Aegis Protocol."
"And if he realizes what we're doing before the transaction clears?" another director asked nervously.
I smiled, a cold, dangerous expression. "Then he panics. And when desperate men panic, they make mistakes."
Mara walked into the room, holding a encrypted tablet. She gave me a single, sharp nod. The trap was set. The regulatory filings were already submitted to the SEC.
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"Vote now, gentlemen," I commanded, looking around the table. "Either we strip him of his last dollar, or we sit here and wait for his fixers to pick us off one by one."
One by one, the hands went up.
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