Chapter 2 - The Countermove
Sarah, my attorney, walked confidently to the side of my hospital bed.
Adrian stared at her as if she were a ghost.
He asked Sarah what she was doing here in the middle of the night.
Sarah did not answer him immediately.
She placed a thick, manila folder on the bedside table right next to Adrian's useless NDA.
That was when I finally looked directly into his panicked eyes.
I told him he was entirely too late.
Celeste slowly turned toward her brand-new husband with a look of growing horror.
She softly asked him what I meant by those words.
Adrian said nothing because he was completely speechless.
He had walked into the maternity ward believing he was three steps ahead of me.
He had absolutely no idea he had already lost the game.
Sarah casually opened her manila folder and pulled out a stack of notarized corporate documents.
She informed Adrian that as a forty-percent stakeholder, I had officially executed my veto rights over the Whitmore acquisition at five o'clock this afternoon.
Adrian's jaw practically hit the hospital floor.
He stammered that I could not possibly block the deal without a majority board vote.
Sarah smiled a very sharp, dangerous smile.
She reminded him that my original investment contract included a special distress clause.
Because his company had failed to meet its quarterly revenue targets, my voting power had temporarily superseded his.
I had legally suspended his precious business deal hours before he even walked down the aisle to marry Celeste.
Celeste grabbed the edge of my hospital tray to steady herself.
She demanded to know why her father, Arthur Whitmore, had not been informed of this suspension.
Sarah turned to the bride and handed her a copy of the official injunction.
She gently explained that the injunction was filed under seal and served directly to the corporate holding company during the wedding ceremony.
Adrian lunged forward and tried to snatch the papers out of Celeste's hands.
Celeste yanked the documents away from him with surprising strength.
Her expensive diamond tiara slipped slightly as she began to read the legal text.
Her eyes scanned the dense paragraphs, and her face drained of all color.
She looked up at Adrian with tears of pure betrayal forming in her eyes.
She asked him if it was true that his company was secretly seventy million dollars in debt.
Adrian tried to touch her shoulder, desperately whispering that he could explain everything.
Celeste slapped his hand away and backed toward the door.
She realized that Adrian had not married her out of love, but merely to use her father's money to pay off his massive hidden debts.
Adrian turned his furious glare back to me.
He shouted that I was destroying the company I helped build just out of petty jealousy.
I looked down at the beautiful baby girl resting against my chest.
I told him I was not acting out of jealousy, but out of protection for my daughter's financial future.
Adrian balled his hands into tight fists.
He took a threatening step toward my bed, completely forgetting that the nurse was still standing in the corner.
The nurse immediately reached for the emergency wall phone.
She warned Adrian that if he took one more step, she was calling hospital security.
Adrian completely ignored her warning and grabbed my wrist.
He hissed that he would take everything from me, including the baby, if I did not reverse the injunction.
Suddenly, a loud, slow clapping sound echoed from the hallway corridor.
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We all turned to see a tall, imposing man in a tailored tuxedo standing in the doorway.
Arthur Whitmore, Celeste's billionaire father, stepped into the room with a terrifyingly calm expression.
