Chapter 14 - 2: DEFAULT BY MORAL TURPITUDE OR CONCURRENT LITIGATION.
*In the event that the Lessee, or any controlling executive of Lessee, initiates adverse civil litigation, fraudulent conversion claims, or bad-faith proceedings against the Lessor or the Lessor’s designated estate beneficiaries, the Lessor reserves the unilateral right to terminate maritime terminal access immediately without notice, imposing a daily liquidated damages penalty of $150,000 until full cure.*
I stared at the clause, my vision blurring slightly as the sheer, poetic brilliance of Samuel’s design settled into my mind.
Richard had spent the last three weeks bragging to the New York financial press about his firm’s massive expansion into international supply chain logistics. He had leveraged Sterling Crest to the hilt to acquire a fleet of container ships arriving from Rotterdam. If those ships couldn't dock at the Newark maritime terminal, Richard would face millions of dollars in demurrage penalties every single day. His investors would panic. His lenders would call their margin loans.
He had thought I was a helpless, broke divorcee trapped inside a drafty mansion.
He didn't know I held the deed to the ground beneath his entire corporate empire.
"Elena," I said, my voice dropping into a register that made the security contractor turn around from the gun cabinet.
"Yes, Sophia?"
"Can you get Clara on an encrypted satellite phone down here?"
Elena smiled, reaching into her tactical vest for her satellite unit. "I have Clara on speed dial three. What are we doing?"
I closed the black leather binder, picked up one of Samuel's heavy gold bars, and placed it firmly on top of the lease agreement.
"We are serving our own papers," I said. "Tell Clara to prepare an immediate notice of default and lease termination for Sterling Crest Capital. And tell her to have it hand-delivered to Richard's office by nine o'clock tomorrow morning."
"With what reason cited?" Elena asked, dialing the number.
May you like
"Moral turpitude," I said, a cold, predatory calm washing over me. "And tell her to include a copy of the photograph of Richard and Vanessa standing on my front porch, wearing my silk robe. Let’s see how much his board of directors likes his taste in loungewear."
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