Chapter 5 - The Chairman’s Ledger
Eleanor’s mouth opened, but no sound came out. Her knees wobbled, her eyes darting between the CEO and the man holding a mop bucket.
"M-Mr. Vance?" Eleanor stammered, her voice cracking into a high-pitched squeak. "Richard... what is this? He's... he's the night shift cleaner!"
Richard Sterling spun around, his eyes wild with rage as he stared at Eleanor. "Shut up, Eleanor! Shut your stupid mouth!" he hissed. "This is Arthur Vance! The founder of Vance Capital, the majority shareholder of Apex Holdings, and the owner of the very ground this tower stands on!"
A heavy silence swallowed the room.
Maya Lin gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. She stared at the old man who had spent the last six months quietly emptying her trash bin every evening at 7:00 PM, occasionally offering her a peppermint when she worked late.
Arthur looked down at his brown cardigan, then reached up and unbuttoned it. He peeled the worn garment off, tossing it casually onto his mop bucket. Beneath it, he wore a tailored, crisp white dress shirt with gold cuff links—hidden in plain sight for months.
"Six months ago," Arthur said, his deep voice carrying over the silent room, "I received an anonymous whistleblower report indicating that our Risk & Operations division was siphoning funds into shell companies registered in the Cayman Islands."
He stepped closer to Eleanor. The arrogant director shrank back, her confidence completely evaporating, leaving behind a terrified, cornered animal.
"I could have sent forensic accountants," Arthur continued, his hazel eyes locking onto hers with terrifying intensity. "I could have sent federal agents. But I wanted to see the culture of this company with my own eyes. I wanted to see what kind of people were managing my empire."
He looked at the papers scattered across the desk—the audit reports Eleanor had dropped.
"And what I found," Arthur murmured, "was rot. Cold, arrogant, parasitic rot."
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"Mr. Vance, please!" Eleanor pleaded, her hands trembling as tears of panic welled in her eyes. "I didn't know it was you! I swear! I was just stressed... the quarterly figures—"
"You didn't know it was me," Arthur interrupted smoothly. "Which means that is how you treat anyone you perceive as weak. Anyone you think lacks the power to strike back."
