Chapter 4 - The Ultimatum
The secret was out.
My plain white shirt had completely failed its purpose.
The diner was suddenly suffocatingly quiet as the news alert flashed on the screen.
Maya stared at me, her mouth slightly open.
"You're Julian Sterling?" she whispered.
"The ghost billionaire?"
I didn't answer her directly.
Instead, I pulled out my secure phone and saw fifty missed calls from my executive board.
The stock price of TechNova was already dropping.
Investors hate unpredictability, and a viral assault accusation was corporate poison.
I answered a call from David, my lead board member.
"Julian, you have lost your mind," David shouted through the speaker.
"Marcus Vance just called me."
"He says his son is pressing felony charges against you for battery."
"That is a complete fabrication," I replied calmly.
"It doesn't matter what is true, Julian!" David yelled.
"Vance is offering a deal."
"He will make his son drop the charges and publicly apologize."
"In exchange, he wants you to sign over fifty-one percent of TechNova's voting shares by midnight."
It was a masterful, ruthless extortion play.
Vance had orchestrated the crash to ruin my public image, forcing my board to panic.
"Tell Vance he can burn in hell," I said, and hung up the phone.
Maya was watching me with intense focus.
"You can't fight Marcus Vance in court," she warned.
"He owns half the judges in this city, including the one assigned to Chad's emergency restraining order."
"I don't plan on fighting him in court," I said, finishing my coffee.
"I plan on destroying him."
I stood up and handed Maya a heavy gold business card with a single phone number on it.
"I need the security footage from the plaza to prove premeditation."
Maya shook her head sadly.
May you like
"I already checked the city database while you were on the phone."
"The cameras in the plaza were remotely deactivated exactly ten minutes before the crash."
