Chapter 5 - The Corporate Trap
The board of directors of Cole Enterprises called an emergency summit. Sixteen high-powered executives sat around the long mahogany table in the glass-walled boardroom on the 80th floor. At the head of the table sat Nathan, unbothered, calmly sipping his black coffee.
To his right stood Richard Vance, who held a minor share in Cole Enterprises and had maneuvered his way into the meeting under the guise of "protecting the company's moral integrity."
"Nathan, this is a disaster!" shouted one of the senior board members. "The press is tearing us apart! They're claiming you're using corporate funds to harbor a low-class family for personal vanity! Shares are down four percent since the opening bell!"
Richard Vance stepped forward, a smug, manipulative smile playing on his lips. "Let’s be reasonable, gentlemen," Richard said smoothly. "Nathan has obviously suffered a lapse in professional judgment. Perhaps grief over his past has clouded his mind. As Sarah Vance's distant relative, I am willing to take custody of the girl and place Sarah in a state-run long-term care facility. That way, Cole Enterprises can distance itself from this public circus."
Nathan slowly set his coffee cup down. The ceramic clicked against the saucer, sounding like a gunshot in the tense room. He turned his head and locked his piercing gray eyes onto Richard Vance.
"You think I don't know who funded that tabloid story, Richard?" Nathan said, his voice dangerously low.
Richard’s smile faltered slightly, but he kept his composure. "That's an absurd accusation, Nathan. I am merely trying to protect this company—and my family's name."
"Your family's name?" Nathan stood up, his tall frame imposing a suffocating presence over the room. He pulled out a thick document and threw it onto the center of the table. "This is a record of your financial transactions over the past five years, Richard. You systematically blocked Sarah from receiving her legitimate inheritance from her grandmother's estate—an inheritance that would have paid for her medical treatment three years ago. You left your own niece to rot in a slum so you could pocket her shares!"
Gasps echoed across the boardroom. The executives looked at the documents in shock as Richard turned pale, his confidence vanishing instantly.
"I didn't just buy out the management company of Sarah’s apartment building," Nathan continued, stepping closer to Richard. "I bought out forty percent of your holding company this morning. As of 9:00 AM, I am your primary creditor. If you ever mention taking Lily or moving Sarah to a state facility again, I will liquidate your assets before the markets close today."
Richard trembled with rage and fear. "You can't do this! You're risking your entire business empire for a dying woman and a street urchin!"
"They are not street urchins," Nathan said, his eyes blazing with an unforgiving fire. "They are my family. And this meeting is adjourned."
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Nathan walked out of the boardroom, leaving the executives in stunned silence. But as he stepped into his private elevator, his phone buzzed. It was Dr. Harrison from St. Jude’s Hospital.
"Nathan, you need to get down here immediately," Dr. Harrison’s panicked voice came through the speaker. "Sarah’s vitals are dropping rapidly. Her system is rejecting the dialysis. If we don't find a matching kidney donor within forty-eight hours, she won't survive the week."
