Chapter 12
The rooftop wind howled fiercely, whipping Eleanor’s hair as she stepped onto the tarmac. Harrison flanked her left, his hand resting on his holstered sidearm, while Arthur stepped out behind her, carefully carrying the sleeping Maya. "Harrison, take a security detail and escort my daughter directly to the subterranean vault," Arthur commanded over the roar of the engines. "Do not leave her side until Eleanor and I secure the seventy-second floor." "Understood, Mr. Chairman," Harrison nodded, signaling two armed Blackwood loyalists to form a protective perimeter around the five-year-old girl. Maya remained blissfully asleep, the angry crimson welt from Genevieve's slap still distinctly visible on her pale cheek. Eleanor watched them disappear into the secure freight elevator before turning her attention to the primary executive lift. She pressed her thumb against the biometric scanner. The heavy doors slid open silently. "He’s waiting for a physical fight," Arthur noted as the elevator descended rapidly. "He expects us to breach the floor with tactical teams." "Jonathan always relied on brute force because he lacks strategic imagination," Eleanor said smoothly. The silver doors chimed and slid apart, revealing the grand lobby of the seventy-second floor. Instantly, a dozen red laser sights painted Eleanor’s chest. A line of heavily armed contractors blocked the corridor leading to the main boardroom. "Hold it right there!" the lead contractor shouted, keeping his rifle leveled directly at Eleanor's head. "This entire floor is under a strict corporate lockdown by order of Board Member Jonathan Blackwood. Step back into the elevator, or we will engage." Eleanor didn't even break her stride. She stepped fearlessly into the blinding red lasers, her heels clicking in a steady, terrifying rhythm against the polished marble. "You are currently employed by a subsidiary of the Blackwood Trust," Eleanor stated, her voice echoing with lethal authority. "As the Director of Blackwood Global, I have just frozen the shadow trusts and suspended all contractor payrolls. If you pull that trigger, you are murdering the only woman who can unfreeze your bank accounts." The contractor hesitated, his finger slipping off the trigger guard. "Ma'am, we have a signed contract—" "Your contract is void," Arthur boomed, stepping out of the elevator, radiating sixty years of uncontested dominance. "Lower your weapons right now, or spend the rest of your lives in federal prison for armed trespass." The red lasers vanished one by one as the mercenaries slowly lowered their rifles, stepping aside to let Eleanor pass.
