Chapter 5 - The War in Manhattan
At 6:00 AM the following morning, a private Gulfstream jet lifted off from the Portland tarmac, carrying Dominic back to the high-stakes battlefield of New York City.
Before he left, he doubled the security detail at Blackwood Point Estate. Ten elite, armed guards now patrolled the perimeter. Sheriff Alvarez was placed on private retainer, monitoring local police bands for any suspicious activity.
I sat in the estate's vast library, drinking tea, my laptop open on the mahogany desk.
For four years, I had lived as a helpless waitress running from shadows. But as I watched the news reports streaming from Wall Street, the woman I used to be—the sharp, highly educated woman who had graduated top of her class in finance before marrying Dominic—began to awaken.
On the screen, financial news anchors were speculating wildly:
"Rumors swirl around Vale Enterprises as Vice-Chairman Victor Vale calls for an emergency shareholder vote today at 2:00 PM. Reports suggest Chief Executive Officer Dominic Vale has been absent for weeks due to personal instability..."
My phone buzzed on the desk.
It was an encrypted video call from Arthur Pendelton—Dominic’s personal chief legal counsel in Manhattan, a man who had always been loyal to us.
I answered instantly. "Arthur?"
Arthur’s face appeared on the screen. He was sitting in his office in Manhattan, looking exhausted, his tie askew.
"Nora!" Arthur exhaled in relief. "Thank God. Dominic is currently in the air, out of communication range. I need to tell you what Victor is planning before the board meeting at two."
"Tell me," I demanded, pulling a yellow legal pad toward me.
"Victor didn't just bribe Lily's doctor," Arthur revealed, lowering his voice. "He forged a corporate proxy agreement using your name. He claims that as Dominic's legal wife, your four-year absence constitutes legal desertion, allowing Victor to execute your voting shares in Vale Enterprises!"
I froze. "My voting shares?"
When Dominic and I married, he had gifted me 12% of Vale Enterprises' voting stock as part of our marriage settlement—a massive block of shares that had sat untouched in a private trust for four years.
"If Victor uses my 12% block alongside his own," I calculated rapidly, "he reaches a 51% majority. He can remove Dominic as CEO before Dominic’s plane even touches down at JFK!"
"Precisely," Arthur said grimly. "Victor's lawyers are submitting the forged proxy documents to the SEC in one hour."
A cold, fiery rage erupted in my chest.
They thought I was dead. They thought I was a scared girl hiding in Oregon. They thought they could use my name, my shares, and my sister to destroy the father of my children.
"Arthur," I said, my voice dropping into a tone that made the seasoned attorney sit up straight. "Is the board meeting being held at the headquarters on Fifth Avenue?"
"Yes. In the main boardroom on the 50th floor."
"Can you set up a secure, direct satellite video feed to the boardroom main screen?" I asked, my fingers flying across my laptop keyboard.
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Arthur blinked, a slow, magnificent smile beginning to spread across his face. "Nora... are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"
"Set up the feed, Arthur," I ordered, standing up from the desk, my eyes blazing with fierce determination. "It’s time New York remembered who the real Mrs. Vale is."
