Chapter 4 - The Boardroom Coup
News of Ethan’s arrest burned through the financial district like wildfire before sunrise.
By 8:30 AM, Ethan sat in a private consultation room at the Westchester County Detention Center, flanked by two of the highest-paid defense attorneys in New York City. His suit was wrinkled, his hair disheveled, but his eyes burned with a desperate, calculating light.
“Get me out of here,” Ethan demanded, slamming his hand against the metal table. “I don’t care what it costs. Post bail.”
His lead attorney, Richard Sterling, pushed a pair of gold-rimmed glasses up his nose and sighed. “The judge set bail at five million dollars, Ethan. But that’s not your primary problem right now.”
“What is?”
Sterling slid a tablet across the table. “An emergency board meeting has been called at Hayes Medical Tech for 10:00 AM. They are voting on your immediate removal as acting CEO and freezing all company accounts associated with your name.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened. “They can’t do that without a majority vote. I own forty percent of the voting shares!”
“Your mother owns fifty-one percent,” Sterling reminded him coolly. “And her legal team has just filed an injunction revoking your Power of Attorney.”
Ethan stood up so fast his chair screeched against the concrete floor. “Call my driver. Pay the bail. I’m going to that meeting.”
Two hours later, the glass doors of Hayes Medical Technologies’ headquarters in Manhattan shattered the morning quiet as Ethan pushed past security. He ignored the whispers of employees, the flashing cameras of journalists standing outside the lobby, and the horrified looks of his former colleagues.
He took the private elevator directly to the 40th floor.
When the doors slid open, the grand boardroom was already filled. Twelve members of the board sat around the long mahogany table, their faces grim. At the head of the table sat Arthur Vance—Margaret’s lifelong corporate council and trusted advisor.
Ethan slammed the heavy wooden doors open, striding into the room with aggressive confidence.
“This meeting is illegal!” Ethan announced, pointing a finger at Vance. “I am still the acting executive of this firm! You have no authority to convene the board without my written consent!”
The room remained dead silent. None of the board members stood up. None of them looked at him with respect.
Arthur Vance slowly folded his hands over a thick leather binder. “Sit down, Ethan.”
“I will not sit down in my own company!”
“It’s not your company,” a sharp, resonant voice declared from the far corner of the room.
The high-backed executive chair at the end of the table slowly rotated around.
Margaret Hayes sat in the leather chair.
She wore a immaculate, tailored cream suit. Her silver hair was styled with flawless precision. Her forehead carried a neat row of tiny stitches near her hairline, covered by a discreet bandage, but her eyes were bright, clear, and razor-sharp.
May you like
There was no tremor in her hands. No weakness in her posture.
Ethan felt as if the floor had given way beneath him. “Mom?”
