Chapter 3 - THE PANIC AT WHITMORE TOWER
Back at the forty-ighth floor boardroom,
absolute chaos had erupted into open warfare.
Grant was screaming at Sloane at the top of his lungs,
demanding to know how she dared humiliate him.
Sloane screamed right back,
throwing a crystal water pitcher against the executive wall.
Water and glass shards sprayed everywhere,
catching the afternoon sunlight in a violent glitter.
Eleanor was clutching her chest,
gasping for breath as her butler rushed to administer her heart medication.
Conrad was on his private landline,
shouting furiously at the head of corporate PR to kill any rumors.
But corporate PR was already overwhelmed by frantic calls from financial journalists.
Word of the paternity scandal had leaked through an anonymous tip sent directly to the city's largest tabloid.
Grant grabbed his car keys and stormed out of the boardroom,
leaving Sloane sobbing on the floor.
He sped through the Chicago traffic like a maniac,
desperate to intercept the news before it hit the stock market.
When he arrived at his sprawling suburban mansion,
he found his private study locked from the inside.
He kicked the mahogany door open with a brutal thud,
splintering the frame completely.
His desk was littered with confidential financial documents that he had hidden from me for years.
He frantically opened his laptop to check the company’s internal accounts and asset valuations.
To his sheer terror,
half of his liquid accounts were already frozen by federal auditors.
A freezing order had been issued based on suspicious wire transfers linked to offshore accounts.
Grant collapsed into his leather chair,
running his trembling hands through his hair.
He realized with terrifying clarity that the freezing orders bore my signature as a co-signatory.
For eight years,
I had quietly managed those accounts and kept meticulous records of every transaction.
He had divorced the only person who possessed the keys to his financial survival.
He picked up his phone to call me,
but the number was permanently disconnected.
The trap had snapped shut,
May you like
and he was completely trapped inside his own cage of greed.
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