Chapter 10 - The Executive Showdown
The doors slid open to reveal a pair of armed private guards standing outside the boardroom glass doors. Before they could raise their weapons, Mason stepped out with blinding speed, striking the first guard across the throat with the butt of his rifle and sweeping the second's legs out from under him. Both men hit the marble floor unconscious before they could draw a breath.
Gabriel stepped over them without breaking stride, pushing open the heavy mahogany doors of the executive boardroom.
Inside, a dozen senior directors sat around a massive glass conference table, caught mid-argument. At the head of the table sat Marcus Sterling, his silver hair neatly combed, a stack of legal documents spread out before him. He looked up, his expression freezing as Gabriel walked into the room, flanked by Mason and me holding a sleeping infant.
"Gabriel," Sterling said, forcing a calm, professional smile despite the sweat beading on his forehead. "You missed the emergency quorum. We were just voting on interim operational control."
"The quorum is canceled, Marcus," Gabriel said, his voice echoing off the glass walls. He walked forward, tossing a heavy encrypted flash drive onto the center of the glass table. "And so is your career."
Sterling stood up, his face flushing crimson. "You can't do that. The board voted legally in accordance with section four of the charter."
"Section four requires a unanimous quorum of active primary heirs," I said, stepping into the light of the boardroom and letting my coat fall open slightly to reveal Eli sleeping peacefully against my chest. "And as long as the direct bloodline is breathing—protected and accounted for—your proxy is nothing more than corporate waste."
Murmurs erupted around the mahogany table as the directors stared at me, recognizing the bruises on my face and the cold, absolute authority in my posture.
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Gabriel placed both hands flat on the glass table, leaning forward until he was inches from Sterling's face. "You tried to steal my family, Marcus. Now, you're going to pack your briefcase, hand over your security credentials, and walk out of this building before I have Mason throw you out the forty-first-story window."
Sterling looked around the room, seeing the cold, averted gazes of the other directors who had already realized the conspiracy was exposed. Slowly, with trembling hands, he closed his leather briefcase, turned on his heel, and walked out of the boardroom without uttering a single word.
