Chapter 9 - The Forged Crown"Get away from him!" I screamed, rushing toward the bed.
Nurse Wilkins dropped the ink pad with a clatter and scrambled backward, her face ashen. I reached my grandfather's side. His breathing was shallow, his eyelids fluttering. His thumb was stained with fresh blue ink.
"Grandpa," I whispered, taking his cold, frail hand. "Arthur, it's me. It's Elena."
He groaned, a weak, confused sound that broke my heart. The barbiturate cocktail was still in his system, keeping him trapped in a chemical fog.
"It's legally binding," Thomas sneered, though his voice wavered when he saw Liam step into the room, his gun still drawn. "You can't shoot me, Thorne. I'm the legal head of Sterling Hospitality now. The board has already been notified of the transition."
"You coerced a drugged man into stamping a piece of paper," Liam said, stepping between Thomas and the door. "That document isn't worth the ink on his thumb."
"It doesn't matter what you can prove later!" Thomas shouted, his facade finally cracking, revealing the pathetic, desperate man beneath. "By the time this goes to court, I will have liquidated the Chamonix property, the Aspen lodge, and the offshore accounts. I have the proxy. The bank will honor it at 9:00 AM."
I looked at the clock on the wall. It was 8:15 AM.
"You really think you're the smartest man in the room, don't you, Thomas?" I asked quietly. I carefully placed my grandfather's hand on the blanket and stood up, turning to face my uncle.
"I am the only one who had the vision to save this company from an old man and a naive girl!" Thomas spat. "Julian was weak. He deserved what he got. And you deserve to lose everything."
I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out my phone. I tapped the screen and held it up. It was a live video call. On the grid were twelve faces—the entire Board of Directors of Sterling Hospitality.
Thomas froze.
"Gentlemen," I said to the phone, my voice steady and echoing in the quiet room. "I trust you heard all of that?"
On the screen, Richard Hayes, the Chairman of the Board, looked utterly appalled. "We heard every word, Elena. The authorities have already been dispatched to your location."
Thomas stared at the screen in pure disbelief. "No... no, this is a trick."
"The trick was thinking you could outsmart Arthur Sterling's granddaughter," I said, walking slowly toward him. "When Liam and I boarded the jet in Aspen, I forwarded the contents of your flash drive to every board member. I also sent them the audio recording of you pushing Julian Vance off the balcony."
Thomas looked at the signed proxy document in his hand. The paper that was supposed to be his crown. It was completely, utterly worthless.
May you like
"Julian is alive, Thomas," I delivered the final blow. "He’s in a trauma center in Denver, under police guard. And he is going to testify against you for full immunity."
The proxy document slipped from Thomas's fingers, fluttering to the hardwood floor like a dead leaf.
Related Stories
