Chapter 2 - THE UNMASKING AT THE PLAZA
"Security! Call security!" Eleanor shrieked, rushing to Jason's side and waving her diamond-encrusted hands hysterically. "This unhinged peasant just struck the CEO of Sterling Technologies! Throw her out into the street! Call the police!"
Four heavy-set Plaza security guards pushed through the crowd of stunned billionaires, their hands resting on their belts. The lead guard took one look at Jason holding his face and stepped aggressively toward me. "Ma'am, you need to step away from Mr. Sterling right now and come with us."
Before the guard could lay a finger on my arm, the grand double doors of the ballroom were thrown open with violent force.
A dozen men in tailored charcoal-grey suits marched into the room in military formation. At the head of the formation walked Arthur Pendelton—the seventy-year-old chief legal counsel of Thornton Group, flanked by eight burly, personal security operatives wearing brass Thornton insignias on their lapels.
The Plaza security guards instantly stopped in their tracks, recognizing the security force of the family that literally owned the land the hotel was built on.
"Touch her," Arthur said, his voice echoing with absolute legal authority as he stepped between the guards and me, "and I will have this entire hotel shuttered by court injunction before the sun sets tonight."
Jason stared at Arthur, his brain short-circuiting. "Arthur Pendelton? The senior partner of Pendelton & Croft? What... what are you doing here? Did my board hire you for our IPO?"
Arthur didn't even look at Jason. He turned toward me, bowed his head respectfully, and pulled a soft cashmere coat from his arm, gently placing it over my mother's shivering shoulders.
"Madam CEO," Arthur said loudly enough for every microphone in the room to catch, "the executive transport is waiting outside. Your mother's private medical team from Johns Hopkins has just arrived in the lobby. We are ready to execute Protocol Alpha whenever you give the word."
Madam CEO.
The words hung in the air like heavy ozone before a lightning strike.
Jason’s mother froze mid-shriek. Jason’s jaw dropped so far his face looked misshapen.
"M-Madam CEO?" Jason stammered, looking frantically between Arthur and my faded dress. "Arthur, you're mistaken. This is Isabella. She’s... she’s an orphan from rural Pennsylvania. She works as a freelance proofreader! She doesn't have a penny to her name!"
"Correction, Mr. Sterling," Arthur replied, pulling a crisp leather folder from his coat and opening it with a sharp snap. "Mrs. Isabella Thornton-Sterling is the sole equity holder of Thornton Enterprises, the primary investor behind Vanguard Capital, Apex Holdings, and BlueSky Ventures. And more relevant to your immediate future... she is the anonymous venture angel who personally authorized the forty-two million dollar seed funding for Sterling Technologies."
A collective, massive gasp rippled through the four hundred guests. Several prominent venture capitalists in the audience suddenly pulled out their phones, frantically checking company registration documents.
"No... no, that's impossible!" Jason shouted, his voice cracking into a panicked whine. "My primary investor is an offshore entity called Apex Global! I met the representative in London! Isabella doesn't know anything about tech! She eats fifty-cent noodles!"
"Apex Global is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Thornton Family Trust," I said, stepping past Arthur and staring down at my terrified husband. "I created Apex Global three years ago to fund your pathetic company because I knew your ego wouldn't let you accept help from a woman you thought was beneath you. Every penny in your business account, every lease on your Manhattan office, every salary paid to your engineers, and every suit on your back was bought with Thornton money. My money."
Jason’s face turned completely white. The blood drained out of his lips so fast he looked like a corpse standing under the Baccarat chandeliers.
"Bella..." Jason whispered, taking a desperate step toward me, his hands shaking as he tried to grab my fingers. "Bella, sweetheart... why didn't you tell me? You were testing me? It was a test, right? I... I was just stressed today! The pressure of the IPO, my mother pushing me..."
"Don't you dare put this on me, you ungrateful brat!" Eleanor shrieked, backing away from her son as if he were contagious.
"Shut up, Eleanor," I said, without even glancing at her. I turned back to Arthur. "Arthur, what is the current legal status of Sterling Technologies' primary funding contract?"
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"Clause 14-B of the Apex Seed Agreement," Arthur recited smoothly, pulling a fountain pen from his pocket. "In the event of moral turpitude, severe personal liability, or reputational damage caused by the founder, Apex Global retains the immediate, unappealable right to call in the entirety of the forty-two million dollar debt with zero notice, while seizing one hundred percent of the voting shares as collateral."
I looked into Jason’s wide, bloodshot eyes. "Execute Clause 14-B. Right now."
