Chapter 5 - The Illusion of Power
"Are you insane?" Victoria hissed, marching toward me. "You signed the papers! You have nothing! You are a disgrace to this family!"
"Careful, Victoria," I interrupted, my eyes flashing dangerously.
"The next word out of your mouth will determine whether you spend your twilight years in a nursing home or a federal prison."
The old woman stopped dead in her tracks.
Dominic scrambled down from the stage, his face red with fury. "Clara, you are making a scene! You signed the divorce settlement. You agreed to leave with nothing!"
"Oh, I did," I smiled sweetly. "I agreed to leave your assets behind. I agreed to let you keep the house, the cars, and the original Sterling Enterprises."
"Then why are you here?" Brooke yelled from the stage, clutching Liam tightly.
"Because, Brooke, my sweet, naive replacement," I said, projecting my voice so every shareholder could hear. "Sterling Enterprises is an empty shell."
A wave of gasps rippled through the crowd. The board members exchanged alarmed glances.
"What are you talking about?" Dominic demanded, laughing nervously. "We just posted record profits!"
"No, I posted record profits," I corrected, motioning for Mr. Vance to step forward.
Vance connected his tablet to the ballroom's main projector. The massive screen behind the stage suddenly flickered. Complex financial diagrams appeared.
"As of 9:00 AM this morning," I announced clearly, "Every patent, every international contract, and every manufacturing plant in Asia has been legally transferred to NovaCorp LLC."
Dominic sneered. "So what? I'm the CEO, I can sue NovaCorp for corporate espionage!"
I looked at him with pure pity.
"You can't sue NovaCorp, Dominic. Because NovaCorp is registered in Singapore. And its sole owner, holding 100% of the equity, is Clara Miller. My maiden name."
The silence in the room was deafening.
"You... you stole my company?" Dominic whispered, the realization hitting him like a freight train.
"I didn't steal anything. You sent me away for two years to do the dirty work while you played house with your secretary. I merely put my own name on the contracts I negotiated."
I took a step closer to him.
"Without the Asian patents, Sterling Enterprises owes $40 million in debt and has zero operational assets."
A prominent board member, Mr. Harrison, stepped forward. "Is this true, Dominic? Do we own nothing?"
Dominic was sweating profusely. "I... I can fix this! She's lying!"
"I'm not lying, Mr. Harrison," I said calmly. "And as of right now, NovaCorp is willing to absorb all board members who abandon Dominic Sterling immediately. Stay with him, and you go bankrupt by midnight."
The ballroom erupted into chaos.
Men in expensive suits immediately began shouting, turning their backs on Dominic, swarming Mr. Vance to get their names on my new roster.
In less than three minutes, Dominic went from a millionaire CEO to a man drowning in insurmountable debt.
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But I wasn't done.
Taking his money was just the appetizer. I was here for his soul.
