Chapter 10 - Boardroom Ambush
While Arthur was locked behind federal bars, the battle for David Vance’s legacy was far from over.
Under Illinois corporate law, an indictment does not automatically strip a corporate officer of voting rights on a private board unless the board itself executes an emergency removal under the company's operating charter. And Arthur’s board of directors at Vance Holdings was packed with his handpicked cronies—men who had grown wealthy on his crooked kickbacks and had no intention of handing the keys over to a teenager.
At 2:00 PM that same afternoon, an emergency session of the board was convened on the fortieth floor of the LaSalle Street Financial Center.
Six men in tailored suits sat around a glass conference table, looking like cornered wolves. At the head of the table sat Gregory Stone, Arthur’s longtime chief financial officer and the man who had authorized the fake contractor invoices.
"The situation is containable," Stone was saying, rapidly tapping a gold pen against his legal pad. "Arthur is unavailable, but under Section 8 of the bylaws, I hold proxy voting power for his forty-five percent stake. If we move today, we can vote to sell the South Loop parcel to the Canadian real estate syndicate for thirty cents on the dollar. The funds will be wired directly into an escrow account before the federal asset freeze takes full effect. We take our severance packages and walk away clean."
"And what about David’s kid?" another director asked nervously. "She was on the witness stand this morning."
"She’s a minor," Stone snapped, waving his hand dismissively. "Her legal guardians are gone, and Daniel Harrison has no official standing in this company. He’s an outside investor. He can't vote our shares."
The frosted glass doors of the boardroom swung open.
"I don't need to vote your shares, Gregory," I said, walking into the room.
The six directors scrambled, two of them instinctively standing up as if caught stealing from an office desk.
Beside me walked David Nolan, carrying an armful of certified legal filings, followed closely by Maya Vance.
"Harrison," Stone stammered, his face twitching. "This is a closed executive session. You have no legal right to be on this floor. Security—"
"Security is currently downstairs giving voluntary statements to the FBI regarding the surveillance footage from the school alley," Nolan said smoothly, dropping a stack of court-certified injunctions onto the glass table. "And as of twelve-thirty today, Mr. Harrison doesn't need to vote your shares."
"What are you talking about?" Stone demanded, grabbing the top document with trembling fingers.
"Read paragraph four, Gregory," Maya said, stepping to the foot of the table, her eyes hard and focused.
Stone’s eyes scanned the document. His face paled until it matched the white paper in his hands.
"The Cook County Probate Court," Nolan recited from memory, "has officially recognized the validity of David Vance’s testamentary trust. Under the original 2018 operating agreement, David held fifty-five percent of the voting equity, held in trust for Maya upon her seventeenth birthday in the event of his incapacity or death. Arthur Vance’s proxy stake was derived entirely from forged probate assignments."
Nolan pulled a fountain pen from his pocket and set it down in front of Maya.
"Maya Vance holds fifty-five percent of the voting power of Vance Holdings effective immediately," Nolan concluded. "She is the controlling shareholder."
Stone looked around the room at his fellow directors, but every one of them had pulled their hands back from the table, staring down at their laps in absolute silence.
"You're a child," Stone sneered desperately, glaring at Maya. "You don't know how to run an eight-hundred-million-dollar development firm. You don't know the city codes. You don't know the unions. You'll bankrupt this company in ninety days!"
Maya didn't raise her voice. She pulled the antique brass compass from her pocket and set it down with a soft, authoritative click on the glass table.
"My father taught me how to read structural schematics before I learned how to ride a bicycle, Mr. Stone," Maya said, leaning forward, resting her palms on the table with an authority that silenced every breath in the room. "I know that you routed four point two million dollars through a shell entity in the Bahamas last month. I know that you cut the steel reinforcement specifications on the South Loop project by fifteen percent to skim money for your bonus pool."
She turned her gaze to the board secretary.
"Take this down for the minutes," Maya commanded.
The secretary grabbed his pen, his hand shaking.
"Motion to remove Gregory Stone as Chief Financial Officer for cause, effective immediately," Maya dictated. "Motion to terminate all external contracts with Sentinel Security and Oakhaven Capital. And motion to appoint Daniel Harrison as interim non-executive board advisor to oversee the independent forensic restructuring."
Maya looked back at Stone, her eyes completely dry, cold as winter ice.
May you like
"I vote my fifty-five percent in favor," she said. "The motion carries. Pack your desk, Gregory. You have twenty minutes before the building security escorts you out."
Stone stared at her, his jaw hanging open, before he grabbed his coat and fled the room without looking back.
