Chapter 30 - The Sovereign Exposure
Sterling’s smile did not waver, though the muscles around his jaw tightened into steel. He did not flinch; he merely set his gold cane down and appraised me with amused, predatory eyes.
"Miss Vance," he said softly, standing up. "It seems the Swiss reports of your demise were premature. A remarkably resilient creature, aren't you? Just like your father."
"Resilient enough to survive your mercenaries, your thermite charges, and the poison you injected into Northstar for a decade," I said, walking slowly down the length of the long boardroom table.
With every step I took, the board members shrank back in their leather seats, their faces turning pale as ghosts. They were looking at the girl they had watched get demoted to Economy class, the girl they had sneered at in corporate hallways while Victoria strutted like an empress.
"You have no authority here, Emily," Sterling said, resting his manicured hands on the mahogany. "You may hold shares, but I hold eighty percent of Northstar’s institutional debt. One word from me, and the bond markets call in every loan. Northstar goes into sovereign bankruptcy before noon. You will be left with nothing but scraps."
"Is that right?" I pulled a sleek silver remote from my pocket and pressed the master feed.
The eight massive ultra-HD wall displays around the boardroom flickered to life. Instead of corporate stock tickers, they displayed the live broadcast of the London Financial Times, Bloomberg, and the global feed of the United States Department of Justice.
On the screen, the Deputy Attorney General stood before a forest of microphones:
*"At 0400 hours GMT, international law enforcement unsealed eighty-two federal indictments against the Apex Consortium, Julian Sterling, and rogue entities within Northstar Aviation. Unprecedented evidence, provided by Sovereign CEO Emily Vance, reveals a multi-billion-dollar shadow syndicate utilizing civil aviation corridors for illegal arms and asset laundering..."*
Sterling’s cold composure cracked. The color drained from his lips.
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"Furthermore," I said, stepping directly in front of him, "as of three minutes ago, my father’s secret offshore trust in Liechtenstein bought out your entire debt package at an eighty percent discount through automated sovereign margin calls. You don't own Northstar’s debt, Julian. *I own yours.*"
***
