Chapter 2 - Clause Seventeen
The underground executive parking garage was dimly lit, the distant hum of ventilation fans echoing off concrete pillars. I sat in the driver's seat of my sedan, breathing in the quiet. My hands were perfectly steady.
I tapped the screen on my dashboard and dialed a direct line.
"Fiona," I said when the call clicked on the first ring.
"Beatrice," my senior corporate attorney replied, her voice crisp and alert. "I have the Delaware filing portal open. Did he do it?"
"Publicly. On stage. In front of five hundred employees and the press."
Fiona exhaled slowly. "Then the bad faith and moral disrepute trigger is officially met. Are you ready to execute Clause Seventeen?"
"Activate it immediately," I said.
Clause Seventeen was an ironclad covenant embedded into the founding charter of Helios Dynamics. It dictated that if the managing director engaged in fraudulent representation, material breach of fiduciary duty, or intentional concealment of corporate control, the voting trust was instantly dissolved, reverting all operational authority back to the beneficial owner of Apex Capital.
"That strips Dominic and Genevieve of eighty-three percent of their voting power within eight hours," Fiona stated. "By 8:00 AM tomorrow, Genevieve loses her administrative signature authority, and Dominic's executive stock options are locked in escrow."
"Good," I replied. "Prepare the forensic audit team. I want forensic accountants in the building before the opening bell."
"Do you want me to send private security to escort him out tonight?"
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I looked up through the garage opening at the glass skyscraper towering into the night sky, where the celebration lights were still blazing.
"No," I said, my voice dropping an octave. "Let him finish his champagne. I want him completely comfortable before everything he thinks he owns turns to dust."
