Bellweather Development issued an emergency public press release announcing the immediate termination and arrest of its Vice President of Acquisitions, alongside a full disclosure of the thwarted industrial espionage plot involving Vanguard Enterprises.
By noon, stocks for Vanguard plummeted by twenty-four percent.
I stood in my office, watching the live financial news ticker flash across the television screen, when my private line rang. I picked it up without hesitation.
“Claire Bellweather,” I answered.
“Claire! Please—you have to listen to me!”
It was Richard Sterling, CEO of Vanguard. His polished, arrogant voice from last week was completely gone, replaced by a frantic, high-pitched squeal of pure terror.
“Mr. Sterling,” I said evenly, leaning back in my chair. “To what do I owe the absolute displeasure?”
“The SEC is in our lobby!” Sterling cried out. “They’re freezing our assets, they’re seizing our servers! My board is threatening to oust me by sunset! Claire, we can make a deal. Whatever Mason promised you—I’ll double it. Just tell your lawyers to retract the Vanguard name from the indictment!”
I let out a cold, humorless laugh.
“Retract it? Richard, your company tried to steal our Metro Rail blueprints by bribing a man who couldn't even respect his own wedding day. You aren't just going down; you're going to be a case study in every business school in the country on how not to commit corporate suicide.”
“You’re enjoying this,” he hissed, his tone shifting from desperation back to venom. “You’re a cold, vindictive witch. No wonder he tried to put you in your place at the wedding!”
The moment he said it, the air in the room grew heavy.
“Remember that sentence, Richard,” I whispered softly into the receiver. “Smile. Don’t embarrass me. That’s what he told me right before he slammed my face into the cake.”
A pause hung heavily on the line.
“Enjoy your cell block,” I added, and hung up the phone.
