Chapter 9 - The Boardroom Confrontation
“Good morning, Julian,” Daniel’s voice rang out through the boardroom, smooth, cold, and carrying the weight of an absolute monarch returning to his realm.
A collective gasp swept through the assembly of fifty elite investors. Whispers erupted like wildfire across the room.
“Daniel? My God, it’s Daniel...”
“I thought he was dead!”
Julian gripped the edges of the podium so hard his knuckles turned ghostly white. For a terrifying second, his composure completely unraveled, his eyes darting frantically toward the doors, as if expecting to see a dead man rising from a grave.
Then, snapping back to his characteristic predatory charm, Julian forced a strained, nervous laugh.
“Well! Well, look who decided to grace us with his presence,” Julian said, his voice pitching high. “My dear brother! Rumors of your demise were greatly exaggerated, it seems. Security must have let a vagrant in—someone throw this man out before—"
“Quiet, Julian,” Daniel commanded, stepping further into the room.
The sheer authority in his voice made Julian snap his mouth shut.
Daniel walked down the length of the mahogany table, stopping ten feet away from his twin. I walked beside him, carrying the twins, feeling every pair of billionaire eyes burn into me with intense, judgmental curiosity.
“You announced my death to the board,” Daniel said softly, his eyes locked onto Julian’s sweating face. “You filed fraudulent probate documents. You seized corporate escrow funds. And last night, you sent a team of professional assassins to execute me and my children in a dark alley behind a diner.”
An uproar exploded around the table. Board members jumped to their feet, shouting over one another.
“Assassination? Good lord!”
“Is this true, Julian?!”
“Silence!” Daniel’s voice cracked like a whip across the room, instantly silencing every person present.
Daniel reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a heavy black flash drive, tossing it onto the polished mahogany table right in front of Julian. It skidded across the wood and stopped against the podium.
“That drive contains encrypted financial wire transfers from your personal offshore accounts to the exact mercenaries who ambushed me last night,” Daniel said, his voice dangerously low. “It also contains audio confessions, ballistic reports from the bullet extracted from my side, and birth certificates proving that these two infants are the lawful, living heirs to the Sterling estate.”
Julian stared at the flash drive as if it were a venomous snake. Sweat beaded along his hairline, dripping down his cheek.
“It’s a forgery,” Julian snarled, his mask finally slipping entirely, revealing the desperate, cornered rat beneath. “He’s unstable! He’s been hiding in Europe for years losing his mind! Security! Remove him and this woman immediately!”
Not a single security guard moved.
Instead, Marcus stepped forward from the doorway, flanked by four armed guards who leveled their Tasers directly at Julian’s personal detail standing near the windows.
“The security detail now answers to the rightful CEO, Mr. Julian Sterling,” Marcus announced calmly.
Daniel took another step toward his brother, towering over him.
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“Your reign is over, Julian,” Daniel whispered, loud enough for the entire room to hear. “Federal marshals are waiting in the lobby to take you into custody for corporate treason, embezzlement, and attempted murder.”
Julian let out a hysterical laugh, lunging forward with a hidden letter opener snatched from the podium, aiming directly for Daniel’s throat.
