Chapter 4 - Falling Dominoes
At 3:45 PM, a fleet of sleek black sedans pulled up to the glass-and-steel skyscraper that bore the name Hollis Transit Systems.
When I stepped through the grand revolving doors of the main lobby, the security guards and receptionists froze. For years, they had seen me walk in quietly behind Adrian, carrying his extra suit jacket or bringing him lunch, barely acknowledged by the staff.
Today, I walked through the center of the lobby flanked by Marcus Vance, a team of forensic accountants, and four uniformed sheriff's deputies carrying court orders.
The elevator took us directly to the top floor—the executive boardroom. Inside, the twelve members of the board of directors were engaged in a screaming match.
"If the algorithm stops working tonight, the city council will terminate our public transport contract by morning!" one director yelled.
"We need to fire Adrian right now!" another shouted. "He lied to us about the patents!"
The heavy double doors swung open, and the entire room fell dead silent.
I walked to the head of the long marble table. Without a word, Marcus pulled out the leather chair at the end of the room—the chair where Adrian had sat for a decade—and held it for me. I took my seat calmly.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen," I said, resting my hands on the table. "I believe you all know who I am."
The chairman of the board, Arthur Sterling, an older man with silver hair who had known my father, stood up slowly. "Evelyn... we are in absolute shock. We had no idea—"
"You had no idea because you chose not to look, Arthur," I said smoothly. "For twelve years, you allowed Adrian to run this company like his personal playground because the numbers looked good. But as of 12:00 AM today, my software license to this company officially revoked."
Panicked whispers broke out among the board members.
"Evelyn, please," Arthur begged, his hands trembling. "If you revoke the software, the company will collapse overnight. Thousands of employees will lose their jobs. The stock will be worthless!"
"I have no intention of destroying the company I built, Arthur," I said, placing a thick stack of legal documents on the table. "I am offering the board a choice. Option one: You allow Adrian to remain as CEO. At midnight, I lock the servers, file a federal patent infringement lawsuit, and watch this company go bankrupt before the week is out."
The directors looked terrified. "And option two?" Arthur asked quickly.
"Option two," Marcus chimed in, stepping forward, "The board immediately exercises its emergency powers to remove Adrian Hollis as CEO for gross misconduct and breach of fiduciary duty. You appoint Evelyn Lane as Interim Executive Chairwoman, convert her master software patent into a controlling 51% equity stake, and freeze all severance packages for outgoing executives."
Before the directors could respond, the boardroom doors slammed open again.
Adrian burst into the room, his tie completely undone, his eyes bloodshot. Paige was right behind him, frantically crying.
"Don't listen to her!" Adrian screamed, slamming his fist against the wall. "She's trying to steal my company! Arthur, tell her! I made you all rich!"
Arthur Sterling looked at Adrian with pure contempt. The silver-haired chairman didn't hesitate for a single second. He raised his hand.
"I move to vote on the immediate removal of Adrian Hollis as CEO and Chairman of Hollis Transit Systems," Arthur said clearly.
"Seconded," another director said instantly.
"Thirded!"
"All in favor?" Arthur asked.
Every single hand in the boardroom went up.
May you like
Adrian stood frozen in the doorway, staring at the raised hands of the men who had praised him just twenty-four hours ago.
"Motion passed unanimously," Arthur declared, turning to me with a bow of his head. "Welcome, Chairwoman Lane."
