Chapter 3 - The Boardroom Ambush
Daniel spent forty minutes in the executive bathroom, scrubbing the coffee stain from his suit pants with paper towels.
He told himself that this was just an aggressive legal bluff from a bitter, emotional wife.
He walked onto the tenth floor of the financial firm, plastering his signature arrogant smile across his face.
Claire Halstead was standing near the glass partition of the main conference room, looking stunning in a tailored cream skirt suit.
She caught Daniel’s eye and gave him a suggestive, knowing wink as other executives filed into the room.
She believed that Daniel had officially dumped his boring wife to elevate her into the lifestyle she deserved.
"Good morning, team," Daniel announced, taking his seat at the head of the long mahogany conference table.
Twelve senior portfolio managers and executives sat around the table, reviewing the quarterly earnings reports.
Claire sat two chairs down from him, resting her manicured hand on the edge of her tablet.
Before Daniel could open his presentation folder, the heavy glass doors of the conference room swung open.
A burly man wearing a brown leather jacket and holding a thick manila envelope walked into the room.
"Excuse me, this is a closed executive meeting," the managing partner, Gregory Vance, said sharply.
The man in the leather jacket ignored Gregory completely, his eyes locking onto Daniel.
"Daniel Whitmore?" the man asked in a loud, booming voice that commanded the entire room.
"Yes, who the hell are you?" Daniel snapped, standing up from his leather chair.
The man tossed the thick envelope onto the center of the mahogany table, directly in front of Daniel's coffee mug.
"You have been officially served with a petition for marital dissolution and a forensic asset injunction," the process server announced.
The entire conference room went dead silent, every executive holding their breath in shock.
"And I also have a subpoena for Claire Halstead," the process server added, pulling a second envelope from his bag.
He dropped the second set of papers directly onto Claire's lap.
Claire gasped out loud, pushing her chair back as if the envelope were a venomous snake.
"What is this?" Claire shrieked, her face turning bright red with pure humiliation.
"You have been subpoenaed as an interested third party in a grand larceny and financial embezzlement investigation," the man stated calmly.
"Have a wonderful day, everyone," he said, turning around and walking out the door.
Gregory Vance slowly took off his reading glasses, staring down the table at Daniel and Claire with icy, corporate fury.
May you like
"Daniel, Claire, my office. Right now," Gregory ordered, his voice vibrating with absolute disgust.
The boardroom scandal had exploded, and there was no PR team in the world that could clean it up.
