Chapter 6 - The War in the Boardroom
The grand conference room on the 30th floor of the St. Paul Municipal Tower smelled of expensive leather, fresh mahogany polish, and high-stakes corporate tension.
Floor-to-ceiling windows offered a panoramic view of the Mississippi River, where construction barges were already idling near the bank—the future site of the $45 million Riverside Plaza project.
Sitting on one side of the thirty-foot conference table was the City Development Board—six senior municipal officials, including the Deputy Mayor and the Chief City Attorney. Sitting beside them was Julian Thorne and Arthur Vance, both looking crisp, formidable, and utterly confident in their charcoal suits.
Jackson sat between them. He was wearing a fresh suit, his hair combed back, though he had a dark, heavy layer of foundation makeup applied over his jawline to hide the pale stress of his night in jail.
At the head of the table sat Richard Sterling—the billionaire owner of Sterling Capital Holdings.
"We are ready to finalize the primary construction disbursement schedules for the Riverside Plaza, Mr. Sterling," the Deputy Mayor announced, tapping his pen on a stack of legal folders. "All we need is the formal signature of the principal architect and sole owner of Vanguard Urban Design."
Arthur Vance smiled, a smooth, condescending expression as he adjusted his gold cufflinks.
"As Senior Legal Counsel for Vanguard’s parent holding firm," Arthur said smoothly, sliding a heavy leather folder across the table, "I have executed a corporate resolution under Section 302 of the Minnesota Business Code. Due to recent... medical incapacities suffered by Miss Maya Lin, my client, Mr. Jackson Vance, has been assigned temporary managing authority over Vanguard’s operational contracts."
Jackson picked up a expensive Montblanc pen, smiling faintly as he leaned toward the signature line.
"Is that so, Arthur?" a voice rang out from the back of the conference room.
The heavy double doors swept open.
I walked into the boardroom.
I was wearing an ivory-white power suit, my dark hair styled elegantly over my left ear to cover the small white bandage on my temple. My posture was regal, my chin held high, and beside me walked Sarah Chen, flanked by two armed investigators from the Minnesota Attorney General’s Financial Crimes Bureau.
The pen slipped from Jackson’s fingers, rolling across the glass table.
Arthur froze, his hands staying flat on the mahogany surface as his face drained of color. Julian Thorne immediately stood up, his eyes widening in shock.
"Maya!" the Deputy Mayor gasped, standing up from his chair. "We... we were told you were hospitalized following a severe domestic accident!"
"I was hospitalized, Mr. Deputy Mayor," I said, my voice carrying a quiet, terrifying resonance that commanded the entire thirty-story room. "Because thirty-six hours ago, the man sitting at your table—Jackson Vance—shattered a heavy ceramic plate across my face to force me to surrender my corporate assets."
A shockwave of horrified gasps rippled through the city board members.
"That is a private, unproven domestic dispute!" Arthur shouted, jumping to his feet, his authoritative lawyer persona instantly dissolving into panic. "This board has no jurisdiction over marital civil disputes!"
"It’s not a private dispute anymore, Arthur," Sarah Chen declared, stepping forward and opening her leather briefcase. She pulled out a stack of court-certified documents and laid them directly in front of the Deputy Mayor and Richard Sterling.
"These are certified copies of the Emergency Restraining Order issued against Jackson Vance," Sarah announced. "By sitting within ten feet of Maya Lin in this boardroom today, Jackson Vance is currently committing a Class E felony violation of a protective order."
Jackson scrambled back in his chair, his face turning an unsightly, sickly yellow. "Dad! Do something!"
"Furthermore," Sarah continued, turning her sharp gaze toward Julian Thorne, "we have submitted a formal forensic petition to the Attorney General. The corporate resolution Arthur Vance just presented to this board is a forged document. Miss Maya Lin is the sole hundred-percent shareholder of Vanguard Urban Design. Jackson Vance holds zero equity, zero voting rights, and zero operational authority."
Richard Sterling slowly lowered his glasses, looking from the court documents to Arthur Vance, his eyes turning cold as ice.
"Arthur..." Sterling said, his voice dropping into a dangerous, quiet growl. "You assured my firm that your son held fifty percent voting equity in Vanguard. You assured me that the subcontracting licenses were legally secured."
"Richard, please, let me explain—" Arthur stammered, sweat breaking out across his forehead.
"There is nothing to explain, Mr. Sterling," I said, walking right up to the head of the table, looking down at the billionaire investor. "Arthur Vance and Julian Thorne attempted to use a forged corporate resolution to funnel twelve million dollars of your private equity investment into a shadow shell company registered under Genesis Vance’s maiden name."
The two State Investigators stepped forward, stepping on either side of Jackson’s chair.
"Jackson Vance," the lead investigator said, pulling out his badge. "You are under arrest for felony violation of a Restraining Order, forgery of corporate documents, and grand attempted conversion."
"No! No! Get off me!" Jackson screamed as the investigators yanked him out of his chair, forcing his arms behind his back and snapping the steel cuffs over his wrists for the second time in forty-eight hours. "Dad! Help me! Thorne! Fix this!"
Julian Thorne stepped back, pulling his hands away from Jackson as if my husband were radioactive. "I am stepping down as corporate counsel for the Vance family effective immediately," Thorne declared nervously, reaching for his briefcase.
"You aren't going anywhere, Mr. Thorne," the second investigator said, pulling a secondary warrant from his coat. "The Attorney General has issued a subpoena for your law firm's server logs. You're coming with us for questioning."
The grand boardroom descended into utter, chaotic ruin.
City officials were shouting, Richard Sterling was roaring at his executive team to terminate all contracts with Vance & Associates, and Jackson was weeping hysterically as he was dragged past the floor-to-ceiling windows down the hallway toward the service elevators.
Arthur Vance stood alone at the table, his high-priced suit rumpled, his hair messy, staring at me with a mixture of profound horror and absolute, shattered disbelief.
"You..." Arthur choked out, his voice trembling. "You destroyed us..."
May you like
I picked up the Montblanc pen Jackson had dropped, capped it gently, and set it in Arthur’s breast pocket.
"No, Arthur," I whispered, looking him dead in the eye. "You destroyed yourselves the moment you let your son spill my blood on your linen tablecloth."
