Chapter 3 - The Hostile Takeover
Inside the ballroom, Ethan was holding up a glass of Dom Pérignon.
"To the future of Mercer Logistics!" he roared into the microphone. "To building an empire from absolute nothing, with no handouts and no dead weight dragging us down!"
Olivia stood beside him, beaming, sipping her champagne and admiring her stolen diamond necklace. The room erupted into cheers.
BOOM.
The heavy double doors at the back of the ballroom slammed open, rebounding against the walls. The music stopped abruptly. The laughter died.
Ethan frowned, pulling the microphone close. "What is the meaning of this? Security, I thought I told you—"
He stopped dead.
Walking down the central carpet was not a disgraced ex-wife creeping away in shame. Walking down the center aisle was Claire Bennett, flanked by Marcus, Jonathan, and Julian Bennett, backed by a wall of security personnel that made Ethan’s private guards look like mall cops.
Gasps filled the room. The Wall Street investors in the front rows stood up instantly, recognizing Marcus Bennett immediately.
"Is that... Marcus Bennett?" an anchor from Bloomberg whispered, pointing his phone camera.
Ethan’s face went white, but he forced a laugh into the mic. "Claire? What is this circus? Bringing hired actors to crash my party won't change the fact that you're signed out of my life."
My father didn't even look at Ethan. He turned to Mr. Sterling, who was standing by the control panel. "Sterling. Kill his microphone."
Instantly, the audio cut out. Ethan yelled into the dead mic, his voice thin and shrill without amplification.
Julian Bennett stepped forward, opening his leather briefcase and pulling out a microphone linked directly to the hotel's emergency broadcast system. His voice boomed across the entire venue with absolute, terrifying clarity.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Julian announced, his eyes locking onto Ethan like a hawk. "I am Julian Bennett of Bennett & Associates. I am here to clarify a few small details regarding the entity known as Mercer Logistics."
Olivia shifted uncomfortably, pulling her silver dress tight. "Ethan, who are these people?"
Ethan stomped to the front of the stage. "I don't care who you hired, Claire! You signed the divorce paper! You gave up all rights to my company! It's done!"
"You're right, Ethan," I said, taking the microphone from Julian. My voice echoed, cool and collected, bouncing off the gold-leaf ceiling. "I signed the divorce papers. Which means our marriage is over. But our business relationship? That just ended, too."
I turned to face the crowd of three hundred investors.
"Three years ago, Mercer Logistics received its initial seed capital of twenty million dollars from Horizon Ventures," I said clearly. "Horizon Ventures is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Bennett Family Trust. Over the past thirty-six months, secondary funding rounds totaling one hundred and eighty million dollars were funneled through Apex Capital, Titan Fund, and Vanguard Assets."
Ethan took a step back, sweat breaking out across his forehead. "You're lying. Those are independent institutional backers!"
"Those are my personal family trusts, Ethan," I replied, stepping onto the stage stairwell. "I am Claire Bennett. My father is Marcus Bennett. And as of tonight, I personally control sixty-eight percent of the voting shares in Mercer Logistics."
A collective gasp sucked the air out of the room. Cameras began flashing rapidly. The investors in the front row were already frantically pulling out their phones.
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"That's impossible!" Olivia shrieked from the stage. "She was just a housewife! She wore clothes from off the rack!"
Jonathan Bennett stepped forward, holding up a thick red folder. "And as the majority shareholder, my sister has just executed an emergency board resolution. Ethan Mercer, as of 10:14 PM tonight, you are officially terminated as CEO of Mercer Logistics."
