Chapter 574
Chapter 574:
“As the primary contractor, losing control of your supply chain is the definition of management failure,” Isolde countered smoothly, her fingers moving across her keyboard. “Furthermore—” She turned her head and looked directly at Grayson. “According to Section 14, Paragraph B of the joint venture contract, if a partner entity exhibits severe, unmitigated financial risk, the lead contractor possesses the unilateral right to terminate their involvement p>
Belle slammed her palm flat against the table. The sound made the government officers flinch.
“InnoTech has no financial risk!” she shouted, her voice cracking with panic. “We are fully capitalized p>
Isolde stopped typing. She finally looked down the long table at Belle, and a slow, terrifying smile spread across her face.
“Fully capitalized?” she asked softly. “Then why did your accounting department file an emergency extension request to pay the utility bills for your Brooklyn warehouse yesterday afternoon p>
A collective gasp sucked the air from the room.
Belle’s face turned the color of ash. Her heart hammered against her ribs so violently she thought it might break through bone.
“You… you are spying on my company?” she stammered.
“It is called due diligence,” Isolde said coldly. She looked back at Grayson. “Are you going to allow a company that cannot keep its own lights on to drag this billion-dollar project into bankruptcy p>
Grayson stared at the grain of the wood, his face unreadable, weighing the variables in silence.
а𝖽dic𝘵𝗂𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝘵𝘰𝗿і𝖾s 𝗈n
The lead government compliance officer cleared his throat. “If InnoTech is insolvent, that violates federal contracting laws,” he said sternly. “Miss Escobar, we need to see real-time, certified proof of liquidity. Right now p>
The room seemed to spin around Belle. Her accounts were empty. The silent partner had vanished. She had nothing.
She looked at Director Chase, silently begging for help.
Chase looked away, staring intently at his blank notepad. He was abandoning the sinking ship.
The silence in the boardroom was heavy enough to crush bone.
Belle gripped the edge of the table, her palms slick with cold sweat.
“Certified financial proofs require time to compile,” she said, her voice thin and reedy, stripped of its usual confidence. “We have strict internal protocols to protect our commercial trade secrets. I cannot simply hand them over p>
Isolde leaned back in her chair.
“Every single person in this room has signed a Level-Four Non-Disclosure Agreement,” Isolde stated calmly. “What exactly are you stalling for, Belle p>
Director Chase shifted uncomfortably in his seat and offered Belle a small, desperate lifeline. “Perhaps we can grant InnoTech a one-week grace period to organize their ledgers,” he suggested weakly.
Isolde turned her sharp gaze on him.
“A week?” Her tone was razor-edged. “In a week, InnoTech will have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. We do not have a week p>
Isolde gave a slight nod to Arland. He reached into his leather briefcase, produced a thick stack of bound documents, and began sliding copies across the polished table to every board member and government official.
“Since Miss Escobar is so reluctant to share her success,” Isolde said, her voice carrying easily through the hushed room, “I took the liberty of having a third-party forensic accounting firm compile a report on her behalf p>
Belle stared at the thick folder as it slid toward her. The cover bore the logo of a top-tier audit firm. Her lungs seized. How had Isolde gained access to the internal servers?