Chapter 13 - The Mole in the Boardroom
Z
At 9:30 AM sharp, I stepped onto the podium overlooking the NASDAQ trading floor, surrounded by flashing cameras, roaring crowds, and screaming floor traders. Standing beside me were Priya, Rachel, and Marcus, alongside our board of directors. Directly across the floor, watching from a private institutional gallery, sat Lord Harrison Cole—Ethan’s uncle and a prominent member of our board of directors who had quietly retained his seat through a legacy investment vehicle.
Harrison was attempting to conceal his satisfaction, but the nervous twitch in his jaw revealed everything. He was Victoria Sterling’s internal mole—the rat who had supplied her network with our internal cryptographic keys and verified the timing of the deepfake release.
I reached out, pressed the glowing green button, and rang the opening bell.
The bell clanged across Times Square, and the big board flashed to life: BES - Opening Price: $18.50. Down forty-seven percent from our target price. Panic erupted on the floor as automated trading algorithms initiated frantic sell orders. CNBC broadcasted live: "Bennett Event Systems opens to historic losses amid unprecedented fraud allegations!"
I walked straight off the podium, grabbed a handheld wireless microphone from a startled floor producer, and stepped directly into the center of the trading floor, turning to face the main news cameras broadcasting live to millions of investors worldwide.
"Quiet!" my voice boomed through the trading floor speakers, echoing across the vast hall.
The chaos on the floor abruptly faltered. Traders froze. The cameras zoomed in on me. I stood immaculate, composure absolute, radiating an aura of supreme, terrifying confidence.
"For the past thirty minutes," I spoke into the microphone, my words echoed across global networks, "a sophisticated international criminal enterprise attempted to manipulate the financial markets of the United States using forged deepfake audio and falsified technical reports. They believed that by attacking my personal reputation, they could drive Bennett Event Systems into a corner and force a hostile takeover."
I raised a sleek leather tablet, transmitting its contents directly to the massive Times Square LED screens above us.
"What Victoria Sterling and her co-conspirators at Aethelgard Capital did not know," I continued, my eyes fixing directly on Harrison Cole in the gallery, "is that six weeks ago, Bennett Event Systems integrated 'Aegis Quantum'—a live, real-time forensic ledger system built specifically to track financial market manipulation. Every single short-sell order executed against our stock over the last two hours has been cryptographically traced directly to illegal dark-pool accounts held by Aethelgard Capital in Zurich."
Harrison Cole turned pale as marble and began backing toward the exit doors, but two plainclothes FBI agents stepped out from the shadows, blocking his path.
"Furthermore," I declared, my voice cold and unyielding, "the technical report alleging a security flaw in Aegis was digitally signed using a stolen security key. That key was accessed three hours ago from a terminal inside this building—registered to board member Harrison Cole."
Gasps echoed across the trading floor. Camera flashes erupted like lightning.
"To our global investors, hear me clearly," I said, looking straight into the main camera lens. "Bennett Event Systems is authorizing an immediate, five-hundred-million-dollar cash buyback of our own stock, backed by our liquid reserves and sovereign wealth partners. And to Victoria Sterling: your short positions mature in fifteen minutes. I suggest you cover them."
The reaction was instantaneous and apocalyptic.
The announcement of the five-hundred-million-dollar buyback shattered the short-seller thesis in a single second. Buying algorithms triggered instantly across the globe. A massive, historic short squeeze erupted on the floor. BES stock didn't just recover; it surged in a vertical rocket trajectory—jumping from $18.50 to $45.00, then $68.00, and finally breaking $92.00 per share within ten minutes of trading.
On live television, financial analysts gasped as Aethelgard Capital suffered a catastrophic, multi-billion-dollar margin call. Victoria Sterling’s massive short position was violently liquidated on the open market, wiping out over two point four billion dollars of her fund's capital in a matter of minutes.
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In the gallery above, Harrison Cole was placed in handcuffs and led away in full view of the world’s media. I lowered the microphone, handed it back to the stunned producer, and adjusted my jacket.
The stock was green. The battle was won. But the war would not end until I faced the Ice Sovereign myself.
