Victor frowned, his smile faltering. “Excuse me?”
“I said, thank you.” Marcus pressed a button on his phone. “I needed you to officially execute a hostile takeover on the record. Because my father wasn't as blind as you thought he was, Victor.”
Marcus looked at the board members. “Did any of you actually read my father’s finalized trust? Or did you just take Victor’s word for it?”
The room went dead silent.
“There is a poison pill clause in my father’s will,” Marcus explained, his voice ringing with absolute authority. “If a hostile takeover is executed against his named successor within the first ninety days, it triggers an automatic, unsealable release of Vanguard’s total financial records directly to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the IRS, and the FBI.”
Victor stood up so fast his heavy leather chair crashed to the floor. “You’re bluffing.”
“Am I?”
The heavy boardroom doors swung open. But it wasn't security.
It was three federal agents in dark windbreakers.
And standing right behind them, wearing a perfectly pressed suit for the first time in three years, was Darius.
The color completely drained from Victor’s face. He looked from the federal agents to Marcus, and then his eyes locked onto Darius. For the first time in his life, Victor Lang Vance looked truly terrified.
“Victor Vance,” the lead FBI agent said, stepping into the room and flashing a gold badge. “We have a federal warrant to seize all servers, hard drives, and physical documents on this floor. We also have warrants for your arrest on charges of wire fraud, embezzlement, corporate espionage, and witness intimidation.”
Derek jumped to his feet, his voice cracking with panic. “Dad! What is this? Tell them to get out! Call the lawyers!”