Chapter 11
Chapter 11: The Empire Crumbles
The clock on the wall of the Chicago Board of Trade building read 9:30 a.m. the following morning when the opening bell rang.
But for Caldwell Financial, the bell sounded like a funeral toll.
I sat in the VIP viewing gallery overlooking the trading floor, a cup of green tea in my hands, alongside my father and our legal team. On the giant electronic tickers above the trading pit, the stock symbol CWFI was flashing in violent, bleeding red.
Caldwell Financial: Down 34% in pre-market trading.
Down 48% at the opening bell.
Down 62% by 9:45 a.m.
The news had broken on Bloomberg at 6:00 a.m. The headline wasn't about a domestic dispute anymore. It was exactly what we had engineered:
"FED REGULATORS RAID CALDWELL HOLDINGS; CEO PRESTON CALDWELL UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR CORPORATE COVER-UP AND SECURITIES FRAUD"
The press had gotten hold of Vanessa’s affidavit, the Swiss wire transfers, and the video footage of the SEC agents walking out of the Caldwell headquarters with boxes of hard drives. The market didn't care about Preston’s marriage; the market cared about a CEO who stole corporate cash to pay off victims of his own violence.
“They’ve triggered the circuit breaker,” Marcus said, looking up from his phone. “Trading on CWFI has been suspended by the NYSE. The stock is essentially worthless paper now.”
My father took a slow sip of his coffee, his expression serene. “The board of directors is currently voting on an emergency resolution to strip Preston of his CEO title and terminate his shares for cause.”
Right on cue, my phone began to vibrate violently in my hand.
It was Preston. Again and again.
I finally answered, putting the phone to my ear but saying nothing.
“Maya!” his voice was a panicked, ragged scream over the line. I could hear chaotic shouting in the background, papers rustling, alarms going off. “Maya, you have to stop this! The board just locked me out of my office! Security is escorting me out of the building! They’re taking my phone, Maya! The feds are waiting for me at the lobby elevators!”
I stood up from my chair, walking over to the glass balcony of the gallery, looking down at the frantic traders below.
“I told you yesterday, Preston,” I said, my voice cool, clear, and perfectly steady. “You don’t get to negotiate after you started the fire.”
“It was just a slap!” he sobbed, completely breaking down, the arrogant, powerful tech mogul reduced to a sniveling child on a recorded line. “It was just one second of my life! How did it turn into this?! How did you do this to me?!”
“You did it to yourself when you thought my silence was something you could buy or beat out of me,” I said. “Goodbye, Preston.”
“Maya, wait—!”
I hung up, popped the SIM card out of my phone, and dropped it into my empty tea cup.
I looked at my father. “Is it over?”
May you like
My father smiled, standing up and wrapping an arm around my shoulder. “The company is gone, Maya. The family name is permanently radioactive. Preston will be in federal custody by noon. It’s over.”
I looked out at the city, feeling a massive, crushing weight lift off my chest.
