Chapter 4 - THE FROZEN EMPIRE
Morning broke over Chicago with a freezing drizzle that mirrored the icy atmosphere inside Whitmore Holdings.
By nine o'clock,
the stock market opened,
and Whitmore shares went into an immediate freefall.
Within the first ten minutes of trading,
the stock plummeted by thirty-five percent.
Panic selling triggered automatic circuit breakers,
halting trading on Whitmore stock temporarily.
Reporters swarmed the lobby of Whitmore Tower,
shoving microphones into the faces of bewildered executives.
Conrad Whitmore emerged from his private elevator looking ten years older overnight.
His bespoke suit hung loosely on his frail frame,
and his eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep.
He attempted to read a prepared statement claiming the rumors were malicious fabrications by disgruntled competitors.
A bold investigative journalist shouted a question about Julian Sterling and the unborn twins.
Conrad choked on his words,
turning a violent shade of purple before retreating behind security guards.
Upstairs in the executive suite,
Grant stared blankly at the plunging stock charts on his monitors.
His phone rang incessantly with calls from major institutional investors demanding emergency board meetings.
When Grant walked into the boardroom for the emergency meeting,
only two directors were present.
The rest of the board had already resigned via email,
citing irreconcilable reputational damage.
Conrad limped into the room,
leaning heavily on a mahogany cane,
his face twisted in bitter fury.
He slammed his fist onto the table and cursed his son for bringing a Trojan horse into their lives.
Grant tried to defend himself,
but Conrad cut him off with a scathing slap across the cheek.
The sound of the blow echoed through the empty,
cavernous room like a gunshot.
Conrad declared that Grant was stripped of all executive powers effective immediately.
Grant stared at his father in disbelief,
realizing he had lost everything in less than twenty-four hours.
The mighty Whitmore dynasty was bleeding out,
May you like
and there was no one left to save them.
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