Chapter 64
Chapter 64: The Counter-Strike
By 9:00 AM the following morning, a binder containing three hundred pages of verified, certified financial forensic records was delivered directly to the New York City Mayor's Office, the Comptroller, and every member of the city council.
Accompanying the binder was a formal press release from Anna’s firm, laying out the exact source of their funding and announcing a twenty-million-dollar defamation lawsuit against the parent company of the blogs that published the smear pieces.
The reaction in the city was instantaneous. The media, realization dawning that they had been used as a tool for corporate sabotage, turned on Vanguard.
By that afternoon, the New York Times published a scathing editorial about "Corporate Bullying in Municipal Bidding," highlighting Anna’s impeccable record and her journey as a self-made female entrepreneur who had survived family fraud early in life.
I sat in Anna’s office, watching the news broadcast on the wall monitor. The anchor was holding up a copy of Anna’s design proposal, praising its transparency and innovation.
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Anna walked in, carrying two cups of tea. She looked exhausted but triumphant. "Vanguard just requested an emergency meeting with our legal team. Elena Thorne wants to discuss a settlement for the defamation suit."
"No settlement," I said, looking up at her. "You go to that meeting, and you tell them the only way the suit goes away is if they withdraw their bid for the Hudson Pavilion entirely."
