The glass doors of Hayes Global Holdings opened as Chloe and Maya stepped into the high-rise corporate lobby. Employees in tailored suits stopped in their tracks, whispering to each other as the two sisters walked toward the main boardroom.
Maya: Everyone is staring at us, Chloe.
Chloe: Let them stare. Today they find out who really owns this company.
Maya: What if David's legal team is already inside?
Chloe: That's exactly why we're here.
Chloe pushed open the double oak doors of the central boardroom, stepping inside with complete confidence. Around the long mahogany table sat four corporate executives and David's head attorney, Mr. Sterling.
Mr. Sterling: Chloe? Maya? What is the meaning of this intrusion? We are in the middle of an emergency board meeting.
Chloe: This meeting is adjourned, Mr. Sterling.
Mr. Sterling: You have no authority to adjourn a board meeting. Your stepbrother David is the acting CEO of this firm.
Chloe: David is currently sitting in a holding cell at the precinct waiting for his arraignment.
The executives gasped, exchanging panicked looks as Mr. Sterling stood up from his leather chair, adjusting his silk tie.
Mr. Sterling: That is a temporary legal hurdle! I will have David released on bail within two hours!
Chloe: You won't be setting bail for grand larceny and corporate embezzlement, Mr. Sterling.
Mr. Sterling: You have no proof of those absurd allegations!
Chloe pulled a thick stack of audited bank records from her leather handbag and slammed them onto the center of the table.
Chloe: Page fourteen, gentlemen. Look at the wire transfers to the shell corporation in the Cayman Islands.
Executive Director Vance picked up the papers, his glasses slipping down his nose as his eyes scanned the numbers.
Director Vance: My goodness... twelve million dollars transferred from our primary operating account last month alone?!
Chloe: David was draining the corporate treasury to pay off his personal gambling debts in Macao.
Maya: He was going to sell off our late father's manufacturing plants next week!
Director Vance: Sterling... did you know about these offshore transfers?!
Mr. Sterling: I... I was merely following my client's instructions as corporate counsel!
Chloe: You were aiding and abetting a felon, Mr. Sterling. And my legal team has already notified the Texas State Bar Association.
Mr. Sterling's face turned pale as he hurriedly gathered his leather briefcase from the table.
Mr. Sterling: This meeting is over! I am removing myself as legal representation for David Vance immediately!
Chloe: A wise choice, Mr. Sterling. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
The lawyer practically ran out of the boardroom, shutting the door heavily behind him as the remaining executives turned to Chloe in utter shock.
Director Vance: Chloe... what are we going to do? The stock market opens in two hours. If news of David's arrest leaks, our share price will plummet!
Chloe: We hold a press conference at ten AM. We announce David's removal and my immediate appointment as interim CEO.
Maya: And I will be taking over as head of our family's charitable foundation.
Director Vance: Do you have the vote backing from the remaining board members?
Chloe: My sister and I hold fifty-five percent of the voting shares under our father's original trust fund. We don't need a vote. We need you to prepare the press release.
Director Vance: Right away, Miss Hayes. Right away.
The executives quickly gathered their documents and hurried out of the room, leaving Chloe and Maya standing together at the head of the long boardroom table.
Maya: You were amazing in there, Chloe. Dad would have been so proud of you.
Chloe: We did this together, Maya. Now let's go finish what we started at the courthouse.