Chapter 7 - The Ultimatum
"What do you want?" Marcus choked out. The polished floor felt like it was shifting beneath his expensive shoes.
"Justice," Clara said simply.
She pulled a folded legal document from her clutch and pressed it against his chest.
"Tomorrow morning, before the IPO launches, you are going to call a press conference. You are going to admit, on live television, that you stole the Lumina algorithm from Arthur Hayes. You are going to sign over eighty percent of Vance Tech’s equity to the Hayes Family Trust. And then, you are going to resign."
"I'll go to federal prison!" Marcus hissed.
May you like
"Yes, you will," Clara agreed. "But if you don't sign it, I will release the original source-code timestamps to the SEC tonight. They will freeze the IPO, seize your company, and you'll go to prison anyway—only you'll do it completely broke, and the inmates will know exactly how weak you really are."
Marcus glared at her, his mind racing for an exit, a loophole, a way to crush her. But there was nothing. He was completely boxed in.
