Chapter 2: Five Minutes
Matthew Hayes was still in the car when his phone buzzed.
Once.
Twice.
Then it didn’t stop.
He frowned, glancing at the screen.
Board members.
Investors.
Unknown numbers.
His driver spoke cautiously. “Sir… your company stock just dropped twelve percent.”
Matthew laughed. “That’s impossible.”
“Sir… it’s still falling.”
He opened his phone.
Another notification.
Emergency audit initiated.
Another.
Key investors withdrawing.
Another.
Federal inquiry request filed.
His heartbeat stuttered.
“What the hell is this?”
Then came the call.
“Matthew,” his CFO said, voice shaking. “We have a problem.”
“What problem?”
“A big one. Accounts are being frozen. Someone’s digging into everything—old filings, shell companies, all of it.”
“That’s not possible. Who authorized—”
“Sterling Group.”
Silence.
Matthew’s grip tightened.
“…what?”
“They just acquired majority influence through secondary buyouts. Quietly. Over the past—”
A pause.
“—six months.”
Matthew’s blood ran cold.
“No…”
May you like
The realization hit like a truck.
Clare.
