Chapter 3 - THE BOARDROOM SHARK
At 8:30 a.m. the following morning, the glass-and-steel tower of Montiel Steel & Logistics in downtown Monterrey was bustling with corporate activity.
On the thirtieth floor, inside the main executive boardroom, an air of quiet, predatory excitement hung over the long mahogany table.
Sitting at the head of the table in Alejandro's leather executive chair was Rodrigo—dressed in a sharp Italian suit, wearing a silver Rolex, a smug, arrogant grin spread across his face. Beside him sat Chief Financial Officer Hector Ramos, a thin, nervous man frantically reviewing a leather binder of corporate filings.
Around the table sat eight key board members—wealthy institutional investors and regional industrialists who held significant shares in the conglomerate.
"Gentlemen, thank you for coming on such short notice," Rodrigo announced, leaning back in Alejandro's chair and steepling his fingers. "As CFO Ramos has briefed you, my brother-in-law, Alejandro, has experienced a severe psychological breakdown during his prolonged overseas trip. His whereabouts are currently uncertain, and he has failed to respond to official corporate communications for forty-eight hours."
CFO Hector Ramos cleared his throat nervously, adjusting his glasses. "Under Section 12 of our corporate charter, if the Executive Chairman is incapacitated or unresponsive during a critical acquisition window, the voting trust executed by his legal spouse, Señora Jimena, allows us to appoint an interim Chairman to protect shareholder value."
One of the senior board members, an elderly steel magnate named Don Ernesto, frowned deeply, tapping his pen on the table.
"This seems extraordinarily rushed, Hector," Don Ernesto noted sharply. "Alejandro built this enterprise from the ground up. His merger in Europe just added three billion dollars to our market valuation. We cannot simply strip him of executive authority based on a spouse's signature without a formal medical evaluation."
"Don Ernesto, with all due respect," Rodrigo interrupted smoothly, his voice laced with patronizing arrogance. "Alejandro’s domestic situation has become... unstable. He is unfit to manage a public company of this magnitude. Inversiones Vanguardia now holds forty percent of the voting proxy. With CFO Ramos's support, we have the majority required to pass the resolution today."
Rodrigo tapped the wooden gavel against the marble block on the table.
"I call for an immediate vote on Resolution 4: The removal of Alejandro Montiel as Executive Chairman and the appointment of Rodrigo as interim CEO—"
BOOM!
The heavy double oak doors of the boardroom were not unlocked; they were blown off their magnetic latches with a violent, crashing thud.
The board members gasped, several jumping up from their leather chairs in alarm.
Stepping through the doorway was Alejandro Montiel.
He wore a bespoke charcoal-grey suit, crisp white shirt, and a dark silk tie. His hair was impeccably groomed, his posture straight as a steel beam. Beside him walked Colonel Gabriel Ruiz, accompanied by four state forensic accountants and two uniformed officers from the Federal Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF).
Alejandro walked down the center aisle of the boardroom, his heavy leather shoes striking the polished floor with rhythmic, absolute authority.
Rodrigo’s face turned an unsightly shade of gray. His hand froze over the gavel.
"A... Alejandro...?" Rodrigo stammered, his arrogant posture collapsing into sheer terror. "You're... you were supposed to be—"
"Incapacitated?" Alejandro completed the sentence smoothly, stopping at the edge of the long mahogany table. "Unresponsive? Psychological breakdown?"
Alejandro looked around the room, meeting the eyes of every single board member.
"Don Ernesto," Alejandro said warmly, nodding toward the senior director. "I apologize for the dramatic entrance. It seems my brother-in-law was eager to host a party in my absence."
"Alejandro!" Don Ernesto exclaimed, a massive smile breaking across his weathered face. "Thank God. What is the meaning of this madness?"
Alejandro stepped toward the head of the table, stopping directly beside the chair where Rodrigo sat.
Rodrigo tried to maintain his seat, trying to look imposing, but his knees were visibly trembling under the table.
"Get out of my chair, Rodrigo," Alejandro said softly.
"I... I have forty percent voting proxy registered with the state!" Rodrigo yelled, trying to summon courage he didn't possess. "Jimena signed the transfer! Legally, I have the right to sit in this chair—"
Alejandro reached down, grabbed Rodrigo by his silk necktie, and yanked him upward with effortless, terrifying strength.
CRASH!
Rodrigo was dragged across the polished mahogany table, scattering papers, coffee cups, and water glasses in every direction, before landing hard on his back on the carpeted floor.
"Aaghh! My back!" Rodrigo squealed, clutching his waist.
Alejandro didn't even look at him on the floor. He calmly pulled a white handkerchief from his pocket, wiped his hands, pulled his executive chair out, and sat down at the head of the table.
"CFO Ramos," Alejandro spoke, turning his icy grey eyes toward the trembling financial officer beside him.
Hector Ramos looked as if he were about to have a massive heart attack. "A-Alejandro... please... I was lied to! Rodrigo told me you approved the transaction—"
"Save it, Hector," Alejandro cut him off.
Alejandro motioned to the Federal Financial Intelligence agents standing by the door.
"Ten minutes ago," Alejandro announced to the room, "federal authorities executed a freeze order on all assets associated with Inversiones Vanguardia. The voting proxy Jimena signed was executed using a forged digital key created while I was in Tokyo. Furthermore, forensic audits completed last night revealed that Hector Ramos and Rodrigo have embezzled fourteen million dollars from our logistics subsidiary over the past eighteen months."
The boardroom erupted into furious shouting.
Don Ernesto stood up, pointing his finger at the cowering CFO. "You corrupt bastards! You tried to steal the company!"
The federal agents stepped forward, pulling CFO Ramos from his chair and placing him under immediate federal arrest.
Rodrigo scrambled to his knees on the floor, weeping frantically as he held up his hands toward Alejandro.
"Alejandro! Please! We’re family!" Rodrigo sobbed, his voice high-pitched and pathetic. "Jimena made me do it! It was her idea! She said you’d never find out! Don't let them take me to prison! Think of the family name!"
Alejandro leaned forward over the table, looking down at the broken man on the floor.
"Family?" Alejandro murmured, his voice cutting through Rodrigo's desperate sobs like a razor blade. "You put your hands on my eight-year-old daughter. You bruised her wrists. You threw her against a desk while you stole paper from my house."
Rodrigo froze, his eyes widening in pure horror as he realized that Alejandro knew every single detail.
"I don't care about the fourteen million dollars you stole from my company, Rodrigo," Alejandro whispered softly. "I have plenty of money. But for what you did to Renata..."
Alejandro looked up at the federal agents.
"Take him. Ensure he is placed in the maximum-security wing at Cadereyta State Penitentiary. I will personally guarantee his bail is denied."
As the officers dragged the screaming, weeping Rodrigo out of the boardroom, Alejandro calmly straightened the papers on his desk.
May you like
He looked around the table at the remaining board members, who were staring at him with a mixture of profound respect and absolute awe.
"Now, gentlemen," Alejandro said, his voice smooth, professional, and commanding. "Let us return to item one on the agenda: the final integration of our European expansion."
