Chapter 9 - The Serpent at the Table
Two days later, Harrison called an emergency board meeting at the top floor of the Blackwell Tower.
The atmosphere inside the glass boardroom was suffocating.
Twelve of the most powerful executives in New York sat around the dark mahogany table.
Olivia stood directly behind Harrison’s high-backed leather chair, wearing a sharp dark grey dress.
The board members whispered among themselves, shooting annoyed and skeptical looks at Olivia.
"Harrison, why is a personal nanny attending a confidential executive session?" asked Arthur Sterling.
Arthur was the oldest board member, a cold man with silver hair and a reputation for ruthlessness.
"Miss Brooks is my chief advisor on internal security matters," Harrison replied smoothly, placing his hands flat on the table.
"And she is here because one of you supplied Julian Vance with the security codes to my private elevator."
A collective gasp echoed around the room.
"That's absurd!" exclaimed Marcus Kane, the young head of digital operations.
"We are loyal to this company, Harrison! You can't accuse your own board without proof!"
"I don't make false accusations, Marcus," Harrison said, his voice dangerously low.
Harrison nodded slightly at Olivia.
Olivia stepped forward, holding a tablet connected to the room's giant display screen.
"At 11:42 AM on the day of the incident, an encrypted data packet was sent from an internal IP address inside this building to Julian Vance's private server," Olivia explained clearly, her voice echoing with absolute confidence.
"The packet contained the master override key for the 80th-floor elevator."
Arthur Sterling sneered at Olivia.
"And how would a former catering staff member know anything about network data packets?" Arthur mocked.
"Because before my family went bankrupt, I graduated top of my class in Computer Science at Columbia University," Olivia shot back sharply, eyeing Arthur without a flinch.
"Which is how I know that the encrypted packet was authorized using your personal security key, Mr. Sterling."
The room erupted into absolute chaos.
Arthur’s face turned bright red with rage.
He slammed his hands on the table and stood up violently.
"This is a setup!" Arthur yelled, pointing at Olivia. "This girl is framing me!"
"She’s trying to destroy the board from the inside so she can leech off Harrison's fortune!"
Before Arthur could finish his sentence, Harrison stood up slowly.
The room immediately went dead silent.
"Search his office," Harrison ordered the security guards standing at the doors.
"No! You can't do this!" Arthur shouted as two guards grabbed his arms.
"Harrison, you are making a grave mistake!"
"You are trusting a scheming snake over your most loyal business partner!"
As Arthur was forcibly dragged out of the boardroom, he looked back at Olivia with a terrifying, twisted smile.
"You think you won, girl?" Arthur laughed manically.
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