Chapter 6 - The Lioness in Manhattan
At eight-thirty the following morning, the sixty-fifth floor of the Ashford Tower on Park Avenue in Manhattan was buzzing with executive tension.
Victoria Ashford sat at the head of the boardroom table, wearing an immaculate ivory Chanel suit with three strands of South Sea pearls around her neck.
Her silver hair was coiffed to perfection, and her manicured hands rested over a thick leather binder containing the proposed merger documents with Montgomery Rail.
Surrounding the table were twelve senior board members, four institutional fund managers, and Charlotte Montgomery, the wealthy socialite Victoria had hand-picked to replace me.
"Where is Daniel?" Victoria asked, her voice sharp as broken glass, glancing at her diamond Cartier watch.
"Mr. Ashford’s private aircraft touched down at Teterboro forty minutes ago, Mrs. Ashford," her executive secretary reported nervously. "He was accompanied by two security details."
Victoria smiled thinly, satisfied that her son had finally abandoned his futile search in the Pacific Northwest and returned to his corporate duty.
"Excellent," Victoria purred, turning to Charlotte Montgomery with a patronizing nod. "Gentlemen, we will begin the formal ratification of the Montgomery equity exchange immediately upon Daniel’s arrival."
The heavy oak boardroom doors swung open with a loud, resounding thud that silenced the room instantly.
Daniel strode inside, wearing a dark navy bespoke suit, his posture radiating an aura of terrifying, unyielding authority that startled even the veteran board members.
Behind him walked two prominent corporate litigation attorneys from Sullivan & Cromwell, carrying three heavy leather briefcases.
And beside Daniel walked Marcus Vance, holding a sealed stainless-steel transport case bearing the biohazard security seal of the Pacific Northwest Genetics Institute.
Victoria’s confident smile froze on her lips. Her eyes narrowed as she saw her own head of security standing behind her son.
"Daniel, you are twenty minutes late," Victoria reprimanded him in her icy, aristocratic tone. "Take your seat so we can conclude the merger agreement."
Daniel didn't sit down. He walked directly to the head of the thirty-foot marble table, stopping two feet from his mother’s chair.
"The Montgomery merger is canceled, Mother," Daniel announced in a voice that carried like thunder across the room.
Charlotte Montgomery gasped, rising from her chair in shock.
Victoria slammed her open palm onto the leather binder, her eyes flashing with venomous anger.
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"You have no authority to cancel this alliance, Daniel!" Victoria hissed. "Under your father’s bylaws, the majority voting shares belong to the family trust, which I control as acting proxy!"
"Not anymore, Victoria," Daniel replied, pulling a certified court order from his attorney's briefcase and tossing it directly onto her pearls.
