Chapter 8 - The Boardroom Trap
The sound of Julian's voice sent a violent shudder down my spine, but I refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing me panic.
I slowly turned around to face him, ignoring the hidden gun he currently had pressed aggressively into my back.
He looked completely well-rested and impeccably dressed, playing the role of the tragic, grieving CEO to absolute perfection.
"You are going to walk silently to the private elevator, or I will shoot you right here in the lobby," he threatened with a smile.
I had no choice but to comply, letting him guide me past the oblivious employees who offered him quiet condolences for his mother's passing.
The elevator doors slid shut, sealing us inside the stainless steel box as it rapidly ascended to the top floor of the skyscraper.
"Where is the ledger you stole from the bank?" he demanded, his polite facade instantly dropping to reveal pure malice.
"It is in a safe place, Julian, and if I don't check in within an hour, it goes straight to the FBI," I lied smoothly.
He laughed harshly, pressing the gun harder against my ribs as the elevator chimed and the doors opened to the executive penthouse.
"The FBI works for the people who are buying my company today, Sarah, so you can send them whatever you want."
He pushed me roughly into the massive glass-walled boardroom, where twelve intimidating men in dark suits were already seated at the table.
Maya was standing near the window, her shoulder heavily bandaged, pouring champagne for the syndicate buyers to celebrate the impending sale.
She glared at me with absolute hatred, clearly furious that I had survived her poisoned water and the subsequent cabin ambush.
"Look who decided to join the party," Maya sneered, taking a sip of her expensive drink.
Julian forced me into a leather chair at the far end of the long mahogany table, keeping his weapon drawn.
"Sign the transfer papers, Julian, so we can execute this nuisance and finalize the transaction," the lead syndicate buyer ordered impatiently.
Julian walked to the head of the table, picking up a gold fountain pen to sign the towering stack of legal documents.
I glanced frantically at the digital clock on the wall, praying that Leo had successfully infiltrated the security control room downstairs.
If Leo didn't shut down the internal network in the next sixty seconds, the transfer would be permanent and irreversible.
Julian confidently pressed the pen to the paper, signing his name with a dramatic, arrogant flourish.
"It is done," he announced, turning to the syndicate boss with a greedy, victorious smile. "The company is yours."
The boss pulled out a heavy black tablet to verify the massive cryptocurrency transfer from their offshore accounts.
I braced myself, fully expecting Julian to turn his gun on me the moment the funds were confirmed.
The room fell into a tense, deafening silence as the syndicate boss stared intently at his blinking tablet screen.
Suddenly, the man's expression twisted from mild annoyance into absolute, unbridled rage.
He violently smashed the tablet against the boardroom table, shattering the screen into a spiderweb of cracked glass.
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"You arrogant, pathetic fool," the boss roared, pulling a massive revolver from his jacket and aiming it directly at Julian's face.
"You didn't transfer the company to us, you just transferred every single asset to a federal holding account!"
