Chapter 2
Grant stormed inside without a coat, his white shirt half-buttoned and a hospital visitor band still around his wrist.
He spotted me near the gate and hurried forward.
Then he saw Evelyn and Daniel.
He stopped abruptly.
“Why are they here?”
Evelyn remained calm.
“Because Olivia requested an emergency meeting under Article Seven.”
Grant laughed, though his face had gone pale.
“My wife doesn’t understand corporate bylaws.”
“Your wife wrote Article Seven with her father,” Daniel said.
I opened my tablet.
Nine directors appeared on the secure call.
Grant stepped closer.
“Turn that off. We can settle our marriage privately.”
“You made our marriage a company expense,” I replied.
I presented the evidence one piece at a time.
A shell consultancy registered to Melissa’s brother.
Her apartment billed as temporary executive housing.
Prenatal care hidden under employee wellness expenses.
And a forged approval bearing my electronic signature.
Lena had traced every transfer, and Daniel confirmed the original server logs were preserved.
Grant first called the payments retention incentives.
Then he blamed Melissa.
Finally, he blamed me.
“Olivia has been emotional since her father died,” he told the board. “This is revenge because I wanted a child and she couldn’t give me one.”
The cruelty did exactly what he intended.
It also erased the last doubt from Evelyn’s face.
I opened one final audio file.
Two nights earlier, Grant had taken a call in our kitchen, unaware our security system had archived the sound after a glass-break alert.
His voice filled the terminal.
“Once the acquisition closes, move the remaining money and dilute Olivia’s trust. She signs whatever I put in front of her.”
Melissa laughed.
“And after the baby?”
“I’ll make Olivia look unstable, divorce her, and keep the company.”
Silence followed.
Grant reached for the tablet, but Daniel moved it away.
Evelyn called the vote.
Eight directors suspended Grant immediately. One abstained.
A second vote froze his executive access and referred the evidence to federal authorities and Northstar’s insurers.
His watch and phone began buzzing as company access and corporate cards were disabled.
“You planned this,” he whispered.
“I documented it,” I said.
Daniel handed him the suspension notice.
Evelyn gave me the blue folder.
Inside was the signed board resolution appointing me interim executive chair until an independent CEO could be selected.
Grant stared at the seal, then at the jet outside.
He finally understood.
I wasn’t fleeing.
I was flying to Seattle to stop the acquisition he planned to use as cover for the theft.
May you like
I turned toward the gate.
His hand closed around my wrist.
