Chapter 17 Re-armoring

• The executive floor of Vance & Sterling Financial was sterile, quiet, and aggressively air-conditioned. By 2:00 PM, the chaos of the morning market open had settled into a heavy, suffocating tension.
• Aurelia sat at the head of the dark mahogany conference table, her tablet propped in front of her, displaying a sea of red stock indicators and dropping valuation curves. Sitting across from her was her father, Arthur Vance. He looked immaculate, silver hair brushed back, tailored pinstripe suit, his expression a cold wall of calculating disappointment.
• "Your lead venture partners are leveraging the grid failure to demand a twelve percent discount on the funding round valuation," Arthur said, his voice flat, devoid of parental warmth. "They claim the infrastructure vulnerability compromises your firm’s five-year operational projections."