Chapter 4 - The Ascent of Shadow
Silence descended upon the forty-second floor like a falling anvil.
Eleanor stopped dead in her tracks, her maroon heels freezing against the stone. She slowly turned around, frowning in confusion at the strange, authoritative tone echoing from the old man's lips.
"Who are you talking to?" Eleanor demanded, though a sudden, inexplicable knot of dread tightened in her stomach. "Put that phone away!"
Arthur ignored her. He casually slid the titanium smartphone back into his pocket. He looked at Maya, his hazel eyes burning with a dark, protective fire that made the young analyst step back in shock.
"Miss Lin," Arthur said softly, his voice rich and reassuring. "Do not pack your desk."
"Mr. Arthur... what's happening?" Maya whispered, staring at the old janitor as if he had transformed into a stranger before her eyes.
"What's happening," Arthur replied, rolling up the sleeves of his frayed cardigan to reveal a wrist worn with a simple, unmarked black steel watch, "is that an accounting error is about to be corrected."
Before Eleanor could scream for security, the private executive express elevator at the far end of the hall—a glass-enclosed lift reserved strictly for the Chief Executive Officer and the Board of Directors—chimed with a heavy, golden tone.
The doors slid open.
Four men in dark charcoal Italian suits stepped out onto the floor, led by a tall, sleek man in his fifties with slicked-back black hair and silver temples. It was Richard Sterling, the Chief Executive Officer of Apex Global Holdings. He was sweating profusely, his expensive silk tie slightly askew, his face pale with raw panic.
Behind him walked two armed executive protection officers and the Chief Legal Officer, holding a leather-bound tablet.
"Mr. Sterling!" Eleanor gasped, instantly adjusting her suit jacket and stepping forward with a welcoming smile. "I apologize for the disturbance down here, sir. I was just dealing with a security breach regarding a negligent janitor and a rebellious junior—"
Richard Sterling didn't even look at her. He shoved past Eleanor so hard her shoulder slammed into a pillar.
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Sterling marched straight up to Arthur Vance. In front of forty stunned employees, the multi-millionaire CEO bowed his head low, his voice trembling with sheer terror:
"Mr. Vance... we didn't know you were on this floor, sir. The board was notified three minutes ago."
