“Before we vote,” Headmaster Davis chimed in, “I’d like to introduce our legal representative from Vanguard Holdings to formally sign off on the debt restructuring.”
Arthur smirked, leaning back in his chair. He expected a junior lawyer to walk through the door. Someone he could intimidate.
I pushed open the heavy oak doors of the boardroom and walked in.
Elias walked two steps behind me, carrying a sleek metal briefcase. Officer Miller and three other Blackwood security guards immediately stepped inside and locked the doors behind us, planting themselves in front of the exits.
The room fell dead silent.
Cameron, who had been checking his phone, looked up. His jaw physically dropped. He stared at my face, then at my suit, then at the armed guards. He nudged Mason, who looked like he had just seen a ghost.
Arthur Sterling frowned in confusion. He recognized my face from the headmaster’s office yesterday, but his brain couldn't reconcile the image of the pathetic janitor with the commanding woman standing before him in a multi-thousand-dollar suit.
“Margaret?” Headmaster Davis stammered, his face flushing crimson. “What is the meaning of this? How did you get past security? Get out of here immediately!”
“Sit down, Richard,” I said. The quiet, exhausted tremor was entirely gone from my voice.
“Excuse me?!” Davis sputtered.
“I said sit down,” I repeated.
Elias stepped forward and placed the metal briefcase on the mahogany table. He popped the latches. Inside sat a stack of perfectly bound financial dossiers, and resting on top of them was the small silver flash drive.
Arthur’s eyes darted to the flash drive, but he didn't understand its significance yet. He slammed his hand on the table and stood up.
“This is an outrage,” Arthur roared. “Guards! Remove this crazy woman from the premises right now. She’s a disgruntled janitor who’s been harassing my son!”
The guards didn't move. Officer Miller kept his hands folded behind his back, staring straight ahead.
I walked slowly to the head of the table, stopping directly across from Arthur.
“They won’t remove me, Arthur,” I said smoothly. “Because they work for me. The same way Richard works for me. The same way, as of midnight last night, you work for me.”
Arthur froze. “What are you talking about?”
“Allow me to formally reintroduce myself,” I said, looking around the room at the pale faces of the board members. “My name is Margaret Vance. I am the CEO and majority shareholder of Vanguard Holdings. And as of this morning, I own the debt on this school, and I hold the margin calls on every single one of your commercial properties, Arthur.”
The color drained from Arthur Sterling’s face so fast it looked like he was going to pass out. He collapsed back into his leather chair, his mouth opening and closing without sound.
“No,” Arthur whispered. “That’s… that’s impossible. You clean the floors.”
“I do,” I agreed softly. “And it’s amazing what people throw away when they think the person emptying the trash is invisible.”
I nodded to Elias. Elias handed a dossier to every board member at the table.
“In those folders,” I said, my voice ringing with absolute clarity, “you will find reconstructed documents proving that Arthur Sterling embezzled four point two million dollars from the Crestview endowment over the last three years. You will also find proof that Headmaster Davis signed off on the fraudulent audits in exchange for personal kickbacks.”
Chaos erupted around the table. Board members gasped, flipping frantically through the pages. Davis buried his face in his hands, trembling violently.
Arthur tried to rally. He pointed a shaking finger at me. “This is a setup! You have no legal authority to—!”
“I’m not finished, Arthur,” I cut him off, my voice cracking like a whip.
I reached into the briefcase and picked up the silver flash drive. I turned to look directly at Cameron.