Chapter 7 - The Boardroom Ambush
At 1:45 PM on Sunday afternoon, ClearPath Health’s glass-and-steel headquarters on North Michigan Avenue was practically vibrating with nervous energy.
Ethan stood at the end of the thirty-seat mahogany boardroom table, straightening his silk tie in the reflection of the eighty-five-inch digital display. Sweat glistened along his hairline despite the crisp air conditioning.
"Where is Marcus Vance?" Vivian demanded, pacing near the panoramic windows overlooking the Chicago River. She was wearing a sharply tailored Chanel suit, her face caked in heavy foundation to conceal the dark circles beneath her eyes. "He said the Senior Managing Director of Apex was landing at O’Hare at noon. They should have been here twenty minutes ago!"
"Mom, relax," Ethan snapped, his hands visibly shaking as he adjusted the slide presentation on his laptop. "Apex doesn't care about personal gossip. These Swiss wealth managers only care about IRR and clinical trial metrics. As long as we show them the eighty-nine percent diagnostic accuracy from the Mayo Clinic pilot, they’ll release the tranche. They’ve already sunk four million into us. They aren't going to write off four million over an interrupted wedding."
"And what about Natalie?" Vivian hissed. "Her hotel staff threw me out like a common criminal! If she calls the press or files a police report for that slap—"
"I’ll handle Natalie!" Ethan barked. "I know how to manage her. She’s an emotional romantic. Once the sixteen million is secured tomorrow morning, I’ll send her a hundred roses, tell her Olivia is a deranged stalker who forged the marriage license, and offer to sign a prenuptial agreement giving her half of my equity. She’ll come crawling back within a week."
The heavy oak doors of the boardroom clicked open.
Ethan instantly rearranged his features into his practiced, million-dollar venture-backed smile. "Mr. Vance! Welcome. We have the complete financial projections—"
Ethan’s voice died in his throat.
Marcus Vance walked into the room, holding a slim leather briefcase.
Right behind him, dressed in an immaculate charcoal-gray bespoke power suit, her dark hair pulled back into a severe chignon, walked Natalie Brooks.
Behind me, two uniformed private security officers and Sarah Chen entered, carrying three heavy boxes of audited records.
Vivian dropped her designer coffee cup. It shattered against the hardwood floor, dark roast splashing across her beige leather pumps. "What are you doing here?"
Ethan blinked, laughing nervously. "Nat? What... what is this? Did Marcus bring you to mediate? Look, honey, I told you, we can talk tonight. Right now, ClearPath has an existential meeting with our lead investor. Apex Horizon’s representative will be here any second—"
"Apex Horizon’s representative is already here, Ethan," Marcus Vance said smoothly, pulling out the leather chair at the absolute head of the table.
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I walked past Ethan without looking at him, took my seat at the head of the table, and rested my clasped hands on the polished wood.
"Sit down, Ethan," I said. "We have sixteen million dollars to discuss."
