Chapter 6 - The Boardroom Coup
Croft Tower was a fortress of glass and steel in the heart of Manhattan. Seraphina and Julian bypassed the lobby completely, using the subterranean maintenance tunnels Leo used to sneak out of the building when they were teenagers.
Dressed in sleek black, her hair pulled back tightly, Seraphina climbed the access ladder to the 50th floor.
They slipped out of the vents and neutralized the two Blackwood guards outside the boardroom with synchronized precision—Julian taking one down with a chokehold while Seraphina used a taser from Julian's kit on the other.
Inside the glass-walled boardroom, Arthur Croft was standing at the head of the mahogany table, sweating profusely as he addressed twelve angry billionaires.
"I assure you, gentlemen," Arthur stammered, "my daughter is unwell. The merger with Blackwood will proceed—"
The heavy oak doors slammed open.
Seraphina stepped in, Julian right behind her, his hand resting on the hilt of his weapon.
"I’m perfectly well, Father," Seraphina said, her voice dripping with lethal calm.
The board members gasped. Arthur went pale. "Guards!" he choked out.
"They're asleep," Julian said flatly, locking the doors behind them.
Seraphina walked to the control console, plugged in her flash drive, and projected the unredacted Blackwood ledger onto the massive screen.
"What you are looking at is proof of embezzlement, wire fraud, and murder-for-hire," Seraphina told the board, pacing the room like a panther. "My father and Marcus Blackwood murdered Leo to force this merger."
"She’s lying! It’s forged!" Arthur screamed.
"Is the SEC going to think it's forged?" Seraphina shot back. She looked at the board members, men who only cared about profit. "If you back my father, you are complicit. When this goes public tomorrow, your stock will hit zero, and you will all face federal indictments."
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She leaned over the table, her eyes burning. "Or, you vote him out immediately. You strip him of his CEO title, appoint me, and we throw Arthur Croft and the Blackwoods to the Feds as rogue actors. You save your money. I get my company back."
The board members looked at the ledger, then at Arthur, who was hyperventilating. The vote didn't even take five minutes. Arthur was ruined.
