Chapter 4 - The Boardroom Battle
The next morning, the air was thick with tension.
I left Sylvie and the babies under double guard at the estate and drove back into Manhattan. The glass skyscraper of Vexley Pharmaceuticals stood tall against the gray sky, but inside, the atmosphere was chaotic. Rumors of my midnight escapade at Mount Sinai had already leaked to the press.
As I walked into the executive boardroom, my board of directors was already gathered, their faces pale and anxious. At the head of the table sat Victor Sterling himself, flanked by Julian Vance and a team of Vanguard lawyers.
Sterling was an older man, his hair silver, his eyes cold and calculating. He smiled as I walked in, a predator who believed he had his prey cornered.
"Damon," Sterling purred, leaning back in his chair. "You look tired. I hear you had a busy night playing hero."
I didn't sit down. I stood at the end of the table, resting my hands on the polished mahogany surface. "You have five minutes to get out of my building, Victor, before I have security throw you out of the window."
Julian Vance slid a document across the table. "Mr. Vexley, let's not be uncivilized. This is a copy of the maternal consent form signed by Sylvie Vexley. Clause 14 clearly states that any biological offspring developed during the trial are joint property of Vanguard Research. We have already filed a writ of habeas corpus. The NYPD will be at your estate with federal marshals by 1:00 PM to retrieve the infants."
The board members gasped.
"Damon, is this true?" one of my oldest board members, Arthur, asked, his voice trembling. "Are there children involved? If the media gets hold of this, our stock will plummet!"
"The stock is already dropping," Sterling added, his smile widening. "But it doesn't have to be this way. Sign over your controlling shares to Vanguard. We will absorb Vexley Pharmaceuticals, and in exchange, I will nullify Clause 14. You can keep your little family, and I get the empire. It's a fair trade, don't you think?"
I looked at the contract on the table. It was the culmination of my fifteen years of hard work. Everything I had sacrificed my marriage for, everything I had bled for.
But then, I pictured the tiny wrinkle between my daughter's brows. I pictured the soft yawn of my son. I pictured Sylvie, looking at me with trust in her eyes for the first time in years.
I picked up the pen.
Sterling's eyes gleamed with triumph. He leaned forward, eager to witness my surrender.
"Damon, no!" Arthur protested. "You can't give away the company!"
I looked at Sterling, holding his gaze. "You think you're a genius, Victor. You think you planned everything perfectly."
"I know I did," Sterling sneered.
"There's just one problem," I said, my voice dropping to a whisper. I tossed the pen aside and pulled out a tablet, sliding it toward the center of the table. "You forgot who you were dealing with. I don't just run a pharmaceutical company, Victor. I run a global intelligence network."
The tablet screen lit up, displaying a live feed of a laboratory in Switzerland. Inside, federal Swiss police were currently arresting technicians and seizing servers.
"What is this?" Sterling’s smile faltered.
"That is Vanguard's offshore research facility," I said, leaning in close. "While you were busy tracking my ex-wife, my team was tracking your money. The experimental gene therapy you gave Sylvie wasn't a trial. It was an illegal, unauthorized human test of a banned bioweapon agent. You used my wife as a guinea pig to test a cardiovascular pathogen."
Sterling’s face drained of color. "That's a lie. You have no proof."
"I have the lab reports, the transaction logs, and most importantly, the testimony of your lead scientist, whom my security team 'persuaded' to talk last night," I said, my voice cold as ice. "The Swiss police have already shut down your facility. The FDA has just issued an emergency warrant for your arrest. And as for your contract..."
I picked up the document Julian Vance had slid to me and ripped it in half.
"It's legally null and void, because it was predicated on an illegal medical experiment. You don't own my children, Victor. But by the end of today, the state of New York is going to own you."
Right on cue, the heavy double doors of the boardroom burst open. Four FBI agents walked in, their badges displayed.
"Victor Sterling," the lead agent said. "You are under arrest for federal medical fraud, illegal human experimentation, and corporate espionage. Hands behind your back."
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As the agents handcuffed a shouting, cursing Sterling and dragged him out of the room, I turned to my board of directors.
"Meeting adjourned," I said. "I have a family to get back to."
