Chapter 2: The Empire Begins to Crumble
Chapter 2: The Empire Begins to Crumble
At exactly 6:00 a.m., Andrew Caldwell arrived at the headquarters of Caldwell Holdings wearing the same confidence he had carried the night before.
Employees avoided his eyes.
That had never happened.
His executive assistant hurried toward him, pale as paper.
"Sir..."
"What is it?"
"Our operating accounts have been frozen."
Andrew frowned.
"What?"
"The banks refused every transaction. Payroll has been suspended. Three overseas investors have withdrawn from today's negotiations."
Andrew laughed.
"There must be some mistake."
"There isn't."
Before she could continue, every computer screen inside the executive floor suddenly changed.
A black background.
A silver crest.
ESCALANTE GLOBAL HOLDINGS
Below it appeared a single message.
Effective immediately, control of Caldwell Holdings has reverted to its majority shareholder.
Andrew's smile disappeared.
Ten minutes later, the boardroom filled with frightened executives.
Margaret burst through the doors.
"Fix this!"
The Chief Financial Officer slowly stood.
"We can't."
Andrew slammed both hands onto the table.
"I own this company!"
The CFO swallowed.
"No, sir."
He projected decades of ownership records onto the screen.
Layer after layer of holding companies.
International trusts.
Private investment funds.
Until finally...
One name appeared.
Mariana Escalante.
Silence.
Andrew stared at the screen.
His wife...
No.
The woman he had thrown out the night before...
Owned fifty-eight percent of the entire corporation.
Everything else suddenly made sense.
Every financial rescue.
Every impossible contract.
Every crisis that had mysteriously disappeared.
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She had never been helping.
She had been protecting her own investment.
