To the public and the trade magazines, James Vance was a failed founder who had lost his mind, his company, and his fiancé in a single quarter.
For six months, James let them believe it.
He stayed in a modest Brooklyn apartment, wore simple clothes, and avoided the press. Meanwhile, he quietly activated a clause embedded deep within the original 2022 Delaware incorporation charter of Aegis Quantum Systems—a clause that specified that any hostile change in voting structure without the founder’s explicit biometric key would trigger an immediate audit by the Federal Securities Commission and revert ninety percent of parent stock to the master holding trust: Vance Global Enterprises.
A corporation owned entirely by James's late grandfather.
Chapter 4: The Phantom Owner
Vanessa stood frozen on the sidewalk. Her manicured hand remained suspended in the air, her face draining of color so fast it looked as if she were wearing white theater grease.
"What... what did he just call you?" she stammered, looking from the driver to James.