Chapter 5 - TAKEBACK AT CRESTVIEWAt 8:30 AM the next morning, a sleek black town car pulled up to the glass entrance of Crestview Developments’ corporate headquarters in downtown Columbus.
I stepped out onto the concrete pavement wearing a sharp, tailored dark blue suit, my hair pulled back into an elegant bun, holding a heavy leather briefcase. Beside me walked Arthur Vance and two forensic accounting investigators from his firm.
The front lobby was in absolute chaos.
Word had already leaked out that Brenda had failed to show up for two consecutive days, that company bank accounts were frozen, and that Mark hadn't come into the office. Employees were gathered near the reception desk in anxious clusters, whispering frantically.
The moment I walked through the sliding glass doors, the room fell into a dead silence.
The receptionist, a young woman named Sarah whom I had hired three years ago, stood up instantly, her eyes wide with relief. “Mrs. Laura! Oh, thank God you’re here! Everything is falling apart! Mr. Montgomery isn't answering his phone, and the bank called saying our payroll clearance was denied!”
I gave Sarah a warm, reassuring smile. “Good morning, Sarah. Everything is going to be fine. Please call an immediate all-hands meeting in the main boardroom for 9:00 AM.”
“Yes, ma’am!” Sarah said, immediately grabbing her phone desk.
I walked down the central hallway toward the executive wing. The glass-walled offices of the senior project managers and sales directors lined the corridor. As I passed, staff members stepped out into the hallway, watching me with a mixture of shock and newfound respect.
For a year, Mark had told them that I had retired due to health issues. They were about to realize that the real brain of Crestview was back.
I reached the corner office—the grand executive suite that Mark had spent two hundred thousand dollars redecorating last spring with Italian leather and floor-to-ceiling oak shelves.
Sitting behind the massive mahogany desk was Mark.
He looked like a man who hadn't slept a single minute in twenty-four hours. His shirt was wrinkled, his eyes were bloodshot, and empty coffee cups littered the desk. He was frantically typing on his laptop, trying to access the company’s internal network.
When I pushed open the double glass doors, Mark snapped his head up, his eyes bulging in rage.
“Get out of my office, Laura!” Mark yelled, slamming his hand onto the desk. “You have no authority here! I am the Chief Executive Officer of this firm!”
Arthur Vance stepped into the room right behind me, pulling a certified court order from his leather binder.
“Not anymore, Mr. Montgomery,” Arthur announced calmly. “At 7:30 AM today, the emergency board meeting was convened by majority shareholder vote—led by Manuel’s estate trust, which holds fifty-one percent of voting stock. You have been officially suspended as CEO pending a forensic audit.”
Mark froze. His hand trembled over his keyboard. “What… what fifty-one percent? My father-in-law passed away four years ago!”
“And his shares passed directly to his daughter, Laura,” Arthur replied smoothly, handing the court injunction across the desk. “Which means Laura is the controlling owner of Crestview Developments. You are currently trespassing on private corporate property.”
Mark looked at the document, his hands shaking so badly he dropped the pages onto the floor. He looked up at me, his face twisting into a desperate, ugly grimace.
“Laura… please,” Mark stammered, stepping out from behind the desk. “Don't do this in front of the employees! We can go into the conference room and work out a private agreement! I’ll step down voluntarily! Just don't ruin my reputation!”
“Your reputation was ruined the moment you used company money to buy Brenda a diamond bracelet and offshore accounts, Mark,” I said, stepping past him to take my seat behind the mahogany desk.
At that exact moment, two uniformed police officers stepped through the office doors, accompanied by two investigators from the State Prosecutor’s office.
The lead investigator stepped forward, holding an official arrest warrant. “Mark Montgomery?”
Mark turned ghostly white, backing away until his legs hit the glass window. “Yes…?”
“You are under arrest for grand larceny, corporate embezzlement, and wire fraud,” the investigator stated clearly, pulling Mark’s hands behind his back.
CLICK-CLACK.
The sound of steel handcuffs snapping over Mark’s wrists echoed sharply through the quiet office.
Outside the glass walls, dozens of Crestview employees gathered, watching in absolute shock as their former boss was handcuffed in his own corner office.
Mark looked back at me over his shoulder as the officers pulled him toward the door, tears streaming down his face. “Laura! Please! Call Arthur! Tell them it’s a mistake! Don't let them take me!”
I looked at him calmly from behind the desk—the desk my father had bought when we first started the business.
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“Goodbye, Mark,” I said softly.
As the police dragged Mark out through the lobby past his staring employees, I opened my laptop, logged into the primary financial portal, and began the work of saving our company.
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