Chapter 6 - The Iron Board
Within forty-five minutes, the lobby was sealed by private security. Leo, still wearing his grey employee vest, was escorted into the private executive conference room on the top floor of the tower.
A massive mahogany table dominated the room, surrounded by high-definition screens displaying the live video feeds of twelve executive board members from London, Tokyo, and Zurich.
"This is insane!" shouted an executive from the London feed, a sharp-featured man named Arthur Sterling. "Walter, you've been missing for ninety days! You wander into a subsidiary lobby dressed like a vagrant and hand operational control of a multi-billion-dollar conglomerate to a twenty-year-old desk clerk?"
Walter sat at the head of the table, sipping hot tea from a porcelain cup. His dirty coat was gone, replaced by a dark wool sweater, though his hair remained damp.
"I didn't hand him control because he is a desk clerk, Arthur," Walter replied coldly. "I handed him control because when presented with a choice between unquestioning obedience to a cruel protocol and basic human decency, he chose decency. Something none of you have done in twenty years."
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Leo sat beside Walter, his hands clasped tightly under the table. "Mr. Bennett... I don't know how to run a global hedge fund."
"You don't need to know how to manipulate stock options, Leo," Walter said softly. "I have five hundred analysts for that. I need someone who cannot be bought, coerced, or corrupted. But first, we must clear your father's name."
