Victoria recounted the phone call word for word, detailing Donald's blackmail attempt regarding the recorded flight audio.

Marcus listened without interrupting, his brow furrowed in concentration. When she finished, he didn't panic. Instead, a grim smile touched his lips.

"My uncle always was predictable," Marcus said softly. "He thinks in terms of leverage and fear. He doesn't realize that in modern finance, trying to use illegal surveillance as leverage is a suicide play."

"He said the charter company was his," Victoria noted.

"It is," Marcus acknowledged. "Which means recording passengers without a federal wiretap warrant in international airspace is a felony under FAA and federal wiretap statutes. He just handed us the gun to shoot him with."

"So what's our move?" Victoria asked, leaning across the table.

Marcus looked at her, his brown eyes reflecting the cold resolve that had brought down Richard Whitmore. "Tomorrow morning at the board meeting, we don't just pass the restructuring vote. We remove my uncle from the board entirely."

CHAPTER 11: THE BOARDROOM SHOWDOWN

At 8:55 AM, the main boardroom on the top floor of Vance-Whitmore Headquarters was filled to capacity. Twelve board members sat around the custom-built oval marble table. Donald Vance sat at the far end, looking calm, composed, and impeccably dressed in a double-breasted navy suit. He adjusted his silk tie as Marcus and Victoria entered together.

Victoria wore a sharp cream-colored blazer over dark trousers. She took her seat at Marcus's right hand.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen," Marcus began, remaining standing at the head of the table. "Item one on today's agenda is the voting approval for Project Horizon—the two-billion-dollar pivot toward sustainable logistics technology."

Donald raised a hand lazily. "Before we vote on Marcus's pet project, I'd like to raise a point of order regarding the qualifications and legal standing of our Chief Operating Officer, Victoria Whitmore."

A quiet murmur rippled through the board members.

Donald pulled a silver USB drive from his pocket and set it gently on the marble table. "I have in my possession verified audio recordings taken aboard flight G650 three weeks ago. In these recordings, Mrs. Whitmore explicitly acknowledges her involvement in the offshore tax shelters that destroyed Whitmore Global. She is a legal liability to this board, and I move for her immediate termination."

Victoria didn't look flustered. She reached into her briefcase, pulled out a thick document bound in blue covers, and slid it down the length of the table toward Donald.

"What is this?" Donald asked, scowling.

"That," Victoria said, her voice piercing the quiet room, "is a federal criminal complaint drafted by the Southern District of New York."

Donald froze.

"Under Title 18, United States Code, Section 2511," Victoria continued smoothly, "recording audio of passengers aboard a commercial or private charter aircraft without dual consent is a class D felony carrying a mandatory minimum sentence of five years. Furthermore, using that illegally obtained audio to coerce a corporate vote constitutes federal extortion."

Donald’s face went crimson. "You... you have no jurisdiction—"

"The plane was registered in Delaware and flying through federal airspace," Marcus interrupted, leaning forward. "And the moment you threatened Victoria last night on a recorded corporate line, you committed the extortion act within New York jurisdiction. The U.S. Attorney's office has already reviewed the call logs."

Marcus turned to the rest of the board. "I move for an immediate emergency vote to strip Donald Vance of his board seat, freeze his voting shares, and initiate civil damages for breach of fiduciary duty."

"Seconded," one of the institutional investor representatives said without hesitation.

Donald looked around the table. The board members, sensing where the true power lay, raised their hands one by one. Ten out of twelve hands went into the air.

Donald stood up so violently his chair tipped backward against the carpet. He grabbed his USB drive, glared at Marcus and Victoria with pure venom, and walked out without another word.

CHAPTER 12: TURBULENCE IN THE MARKET

The defeat of Donald Vance secured short-term stability, but Wall Street was far from convinced. News of the internal board purge leaked to the financial press by midday. Short-sellers seized the opportunity, dumping shares of Vance-Whitmore Enterprises.

By 2:00 PM, the stock had dropped nine percent.

Victoria sat in the operations control center, watching the red numbers scroll across the Bloomberg terminals. Marcus was on the phone with credit rating agencies, trying to prevent a downgrade of the company’s corporate debt.

"We need a major announcement," Victoria said, stepping up to the glass board where Marcus was making notes. "The market doesn't care about internal justice. They care about revenue."

"The logistics tech announcement isn't ready," Marcus replied, pulling down his headset. "The software integration with the Rotterdam port terminals is still three weeks away from public testing."