Chapter 13
The frosted glass doors of the executive boardroom were heavily reinforced, but Eleanor pushed them open with effortless grace. Inside, the cavernous room was bathed in the cold, synthetic glow of Manhattan's skyline. Jonathan Blackwood sat arrogantly at the head of the long mahogany table, swirling a glass of amber scotch. "I heard the elevator chime," Jonathan drawled, not bothering to stand as his sister and father entered the room. "I assumed my security team would have held you at the perimeter. It seems you bought them off. You always were overly generous with the family checkbook, Eleanor." "And you were always careless with your alliances," Eleanor replied, walking the length of the table until she stood directly opposite him. "Julian Vance is currently sitting in a police cruiser, arrested for corporate embezzlement and conspiracy to commit interstate kidnapping. Your pathetic pawn has officially been removed from the board." Jonathan’s arrogant smirk faltered for a fraction of a second, his knuckles whitening around his crystal glass. "Julian was an absolute idiot. I simply leveraged his pathetic desperation to successfully secure the logistics network. He actually thought you loved him, even after you hid your wealth and gave him a threadbare apartment." "You used the Master Sovereign key to authorize a fraudulent medical transfer for a five-year-old child," Arthur's voice thundered, shaking the very glass of the boardroom walls. "You colluded with that parasite to ship my granddaughter to Switzerland so you could steal her birthright." Jonathan slammed his glass onto the table, the expensive scotch spilling over the polished wood. "Because it was mine, Father! I stayed here! I ran the global divisions while she played a dramatic peasant ritual to test her husband! She abandoned this family for five years, and you left her as the primary beneficiary!" "I left to see if I could build a life without the poison of this empire," Eleanor said, her voice dropping into a chilling register. "And all I found were men exactly like you. Cowards who use innocent children as leverage for venture capital." Jonathan stood up abruptly, straightening his bespoke jacket. "It honestly doesn't matter what you think of me, Eleanor. You're too late. The board has already convened remotely. We are currently voting on your psychological instability."
