Chapter 7 - The Reckoning
The emergency governance vote lasted less than twelve minutes.
With ninety-two percent of the shareholders voting in favor of the motion, Dante Mercer was formally stripped of his title as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Mercer International. Under the emergency governance protocols activated by Bella’s legal team, the board voted unanimously to appoint Bella Romano as the interim Executive Chairwoman, placing the full financial and operational management of the multi-billion-dollar conglomerate under her direct command.
When Dante was escorted out of the building by private security, a swarm of reporters surrounded him on the wet pavement of Fifth Avenue.
Microphones were shoved into his face as cameras flashed frantically.
"Mr. Mercer! Is it true you embezzled company funds for your assistant?" "Dante! How do you respond to the board’s vote of no confidence?" "Is Bella Romano taking control of all Mercer assets?"
Dante couldn't speak. He stumbled into the back of a waiting yellow taxi—having lost access to the executive town car fleet—and hid his face as the cab pulled away into the sea of yellow brake lights.
Meanwhile, on the 50th floor, Bella sat at the head of the boardroom table.
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The atmosphere in the room had shifted dramatically. The older executives who had once looked at her as merely "Dante’s brilliant wife" now sat upright, their expressions filled with deep, sharp respect bordering on fear. They had watched her execute a clean, bloodless corporate takeover in less than seventy-two hours without raising her voice once.
"Gentlemen," Bella said smoothly, opening a thick leather binder. "We have a Singapore port acquisition to close before noon. Let’s get to work."
