Chapter 13 - The BoardroomThe Onochie headquarters was packed.
Board members.
Lawyers.
Security.
Executives.
News cameras waited outside.
Inside the main boardroom, Alexander stood at the head of the table.
Chief was nowhere to be seen.
Lolo was nowhere to be seen.
The chairman's seat was empty.
Alexander smiled.
“Ladies and gentlemen, due to the chairman's unfortunate circumstances, the board must act.”
A lawyer stood.
“The emergency resolution concerns transfer of executive authority.”
Alexander placed a document on the table.
Before anyone could sign, the doors opened.
Everyone turned.
Maxwell walked in.
Clara beside him.
Silence.
Alexander stared.
Then laughed.
“You.”
Maxwell walked calmly to the table.
“You seem surprised.”
“You have no authority to be here.”
Maxwell placed the trust documents on the table.
“Actually, I do.”
The lawyer picked up the papers.
His eyes widened.
“These are original documents.”
Alexander stepped forward.
“Those are fake.”
Maxwell looked at him.
“Then let's verify them.”
The lawyer examined the signatures.
The seals.
The registration numbers.
His expression changed.
“These are authentic.”
The room erupted.
Board members began whispering.
Alexander's face hardened.
“This is irrelevant.”
“No.”
Maxwell placed the bank records beside them.
“These transfers are not.”
A board member picked them up.
“What is this?”
“Fraud.”
Alexander slammed his hand on the table.
“You have no proof.”
Maxwell looked at him.
“We have bank records.”
“We have Esther.”
The finance director who had survived the shooting entered the room with police.
She stood beside Maxwell.
“I can identify every transfer.”
Alexander's face drained of color.
“You are lying.”
Esther shook her head.
“I am done being afraid.”
Police officers entered.
Alexander stepped back.
“This company is mine.”
“No.”
Maxwell's voice was calm.
“It was never yours.”
He placed the trust document in front of the board.
“The trust states that if fraudulent diversion of company assets is proven, ownership reverts to the original beneficiaries.”
The lawyer read the clause.
Then looked up.
“Mr. Alexander Onochie, you cannot act as chairman under these conditions.”
Alexander laughed.
“Who will stop me?”
A voice came from the doorway.
“I will.”
Everyone turned.
Chief.
He looked injured.
But standing.
Behind him were officers.
And beside them was Lolo.
Maxwell stared.
“Mum.”
She ran toward him.
Maxwell hugged her.
“I thought…”
“I know.”
She cried.
“I am sorry.”
Chief stepped forward.
Alexander stared at him.
“You.”
Chief's voice was firm.
“You took my wife.”
“I didn't hurt her.”
“You threatened my family.”
Alexander laughed.
“You destroyed your own family.”
Chief looked at him.
“I protected my son.”
Alexander's expression changed.
“You think this is over?”
Chief shook his head.
“No.”
He looked toward the police.
“It is over for you.”
Alexander was arrested.
But Maxwell noticed something.
One board member was missing.
The vice chairman.
He had disappeared before the police arrived.
Maxwell looked at the lawyer.
“Where is Mr. Bello?”
Nobody knew.
Clara approached.
“Maxwell.”
She pointed toward the documents.
The last page was missing.
Maxwell's face changed.
“The ownership page.”
The final page.
The one containing the beneficiary signatures.
It was gone.
Someone had stolen it.
The lights suddenly flickered.
A message appeared on the boardroom screen.
YOU WON THE BOARDROOM.
BUT YOU LOST THE TRUST.
Maxwell stared.
Then his phone buzzed.
One image.
A burning document.
The missing page.
And beneath it:
SEE YOU AT THE WAREHOUSE.
The sender was not Alexander.
May you like
It was someone else.
Someone Maxwell had never suspected.
