Chapter 5 - The Desperate Move
By ten o'clock the following morning, the corporate world of New York was in absolute chaos.
The morning headlines of the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg read:
ASHFORD GLOBAL CEO DRAMATICALLY OUSTED AT ANNUAL GALA; HEIRESS SOPHIA ASHFORD ASSUMES FULL CONTROL.
Stock prices for Ashford Global, far from falling, had jumped twelve percent after Arthur Pendelton released a statement confirming that ninety-two percent of the company’s capital was backed directly by the Ashford Trust, completely unaffected by Ethan’s termination.
Meanwhile, inside a dingy two-star motel near Queens, Ethan Carter sat on the edge of a stained bed, staring frantically at his laptop screen.
Beside him, Melissa Grant was pacing back and forth, holding an ice pack against her swollen lip where she had fallen the night before.
"He wiped the drive, Ethan!" Melissa screamed, her voice shrill and panicked. "Everything is gone! My accounts are frozen! My landlord just texted me saying my apartment locks have been changed! What the hell did you do?!"
"Shut up! Shut up!" Ethan yelled, slamming his fists onto his knees. "I’m thinking! Sophia doesn't have the stomach for a long war! She’s soft! She spent eight years letting me order her around! She’s just playing tough because her old man was standing behind her last night!"
Ethan grabbed his personal phone—the only device that hadn't been seized because it was registered under his mother's name—and dialed a contact listed as "Victor Sterling."
Victor Sterling was the ruthless founder of Sterling Bio-Tech, Ashford Global’s fiercest rival, and a man who had been trying to break into the international logistics market for a decade.
"Sterling," a gravelly voice answered after three rings.
"Victor! It’s Ethan. Ethan Carter."
A cold laugh echoed from the receiver. "Ah, the disgraced CEO. I watched the video of your wife throwing you out last night, Carter. It’s went viral on TikTok. Two million views already."
Ethan’s jaw clenched so hard his teeth groaned. "Forget the video! That was a temporary legal stunt! I have inside access to Ashford Global’s confidential supply routes, client databases, and tax filings! I know where all the bodies are buried! Give me ten million dollars and a VP position at Sterling, and I’ll hand you the leverage to bankrupt Ashford Global within a month!"
Silence hung on the line for three agonizing seconds.
"Meet me at the Metropolitan Club at two PM," Victor Sterling said flatly. "Bring whatever hard files you managed to save. If it’s real, we have a deal."
The line went dead.
Ethan looked up at Melissa, a triumphant, demonic grin spreading across his pale face.
"See?" Ethan laughed, pulling a black flash drive out of his shoe where he had hidden it the night before. "I knew she’d forget about the physical backups. I have the master tax ledgers from 2021. The ones with the offshore adjustments."
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"Are those real?" Melissa whispered, wide-eyed.
"They don't have to be entirely real," Ethan sneered, standing up and grabbing his coat. "They just have to look real enough to launch a federal investigation against her father. Sophia wants to play dirty? I’ll make sure she and her old man end up in federal prison right beside me."
