Chapter 9 - the midnight trap
The Blackwood Plaza was quiet, but the war room on the penthouse floor was a hive of intense, silent activity.
Adrian stood before a massive digital wall displaying the global shareholder registry, corporate bylaws, and the encrypted banking trails of every single board member. Vance and a team of elite cyber-security analysts worked furiously at the consoles.
“They’ve got us boxed in on paper, boss,” Vance muttered, tapping a key that highlighted the board voting blocks in red. “If the Chairman calls an emergency vote under section four, and he’s already bought off the regional directors from VIP Table One, they do have the two-thirds majority to freeze your voting rights.”
Adrian crossed his arms over his broad chest, his midnight-black suit jacket slightly unbuttoned. He stared at the glowing red names on the screen.
“They’re forgetting one fundamental rule of the Blackwood empire,” Adrian said calmly.
Vance looked up. “What’s that?”
“Section four requires a physical quorum of two-thirds of the board present in the primary boardroom in New York, casting votes with verified credentials,” Adrian explained, a cold, calculating smile touching the corner of his mouth. “It was a clause my grandfather wrote into the founding charter to prevent hostile takeovers during financial panics.”
Vance’s eyes lit up as the tactical implication clicked into place. “And since the global summit is happening this week, half of those board members flew in from London, Tokyo, and Zurich…”
“And their secure cryptographic voting tokens are all currently locked in the executive safety deposit vaults downstairs in our basement facility,” Adrian finished smoothly. “Vaults that require my personal biometric override and a physical master key to access.”
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Adrian checked his luxury watch. It was 11:45 PM.
“Vance, lock down all basement elevator banks. Cut the remote network access to the voting servers. If the Chairman wants to hold an emergency vote tomorrow morning, he’s going to need those tokens physically in his hands. And to get them, he’s going to have to come down to the vault and ask me himself.”
