Chapter 15 - The Corporate TrapBy eight o'clock the following morning, the sun broke through the storm clouds, casting sharp golden rays across the floor of the Vance Global Holdings executive boardroom on the forty-fifth floor of the city's financial tower.
At the head of the polished glass conference table sat Richard Vance. He was sixty years old, impeccably groomed in a tailor-made charcoal suit, sipping dark coffee while reviewing quarterly earnings reports on his tablet.
The heavy glass double doors opened, and Marcus walked into the room. He wore a tailored navy suit, his demeanor radiating an unshakeable, lethal confidence. He wasn't accompanied by lawyers or guards; he walked in alone, carrying a sleek leather folder under his arm.
Richard looked up, offering a smooth, practiced uncle’s smile. "Marcus! I didn't expect you in the office today. Harrison mentioned there was a minor security glitch at the estate last night."
"It wasn't a glitch, Richard," Marcus said calmly, taking a seat at the opposite end of the long glass table. "It was an extraction attempt."
Richard’s smile remained fixed, though his eyes narrowed imperceptibly. "Extraction? My dear boy, you’ve been working too hard. Ever since Ethan’s passing, you’ve let paranoia cloud your judgment."
Marcus didn't argue. He opened the leather folder, pulled out three high-resolution photographs, and slid them across the polished glass surface.
The first photo showed the black-and-white dockyard image from seven years ago. The second photo showed the Swiss bank account transaction logs bearing Richard’s personal signature. The third photo was a clear shot of the micro-drive retrieved from Ethan’s silver lighter.
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Richard’s hand froze over his coffee cup. The color drained slowly from his face, his confident posture subtly stiffening.
"Ethan was smarter than you gave him credit for, Uncle," Marcus said, his voice dropping into a razor-sharp whisper. "He knew you were monitoring his communications. So he didn't put the evidence on the cloud. He put it in the one object he knew would survive the fire you set for him."
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