Chapter 8 - The Ghost in the Boardroom
Forty-eight hours after the catastrophe at the vineyard, the financial world was in total upheaval. Headlines dominated the *Wall Street Journal* and *Bloomberg*: **'HAYES CAPITAL IN COLLAPSE: FOUNDER ARRESTED AT SON'S WEDDING.'** Stock prices for Hayes Capital plummeted 60% in pre-market trading, while Apex Dynamics stood resilient, backed by public sympathy for its brilliant, betrayed CEO.
Nathan stood at the glass wall of his penthouse office on the 40th floor of Apex Headquarters in downtown San Francisco. Below, the city buzzed with oblivious life.
A quiet knock sounded at the door. His executive assistant, Maya Lin, stepped inside. Maya was sharp, fiercely loyal, and had worked with Nathan since the founding of Apex.
'The board of Hayes Capital has called an emergency emergency session,' Maya said, handing him a tablet. 'Robert posted bail two hours ago. A anonymous hedge fund posted his five-million-dollar bond.'
Nathan didn't look surprised. 'Who paid it?'
'It was routed through a shell company in the Cayman Islands called Vanguard Horizon,' Maya replied. 'We're digging, but the paper trail is buried under seven layers of offshore trusts.'
Nathan turned around, his jaw set firmly. 'It's Charles Vance.'
Maya paused, her eyes widening slightly. 'Audrey's father?'
'Audrey wasn't working alone, and she wasn't just acting on Robert's orders,' Nathan said, walking over to his desk. 'Her father, Charles Vance, owns Vance Global Logistics. He’s been trying to short Apex stock for six months. He sent Audrey into my life to destroy Apex from the inside, and when she found out Robert was vulnerable, they recruited him into the scheme.'
Maya gasped. 'So Robert wasn't the mastermind? He was just a pawn?'
'Robert was a greedy fool who thought he was playing Audrey, while Audrey and her father were playing him,' Nathan corrected coldly. 'And now that Robert is out on bail, Charles Vance is going to use him one last time to liquidate Hayes Capital's shares in Apex.'
The desk phone line rang. It was an internal call from security downstairs.
May you like
'Mr. Hayes,' the guard's voice came through the speaker. 'Your father is in the lobby. He's demanding to come up. He says he has corporate voting rights that you can't ignore.'
Nathan looked at Maya, a dangerous spark flashing in his eyes. 'Send him up.'
