Chapter 6 - NINE O’CLOCK
At 8:58 a.m., Charles Mercer smiled when Ethan entered the boardroom.
Twelve directors sat around the polished walnut table.
Attorneys lined the wall.
Westbridge representatives waited with champagne outside.
Charles stood.
“Ethan.”
He extended his hand.
“I heard Grace returned.”
Ethan shook it.
“She did.”
“A misunderstanding, I assume.”
Ethan smiled faintly.
“You could call it that.”
Charles studied him.
For the first time, uncertainty flickered behind his eyes.
Ethan sat.
The attorneys distributed the final documents.
Charles began his presentation.
Ethan barely listened.
He watched.
Three directors avoided his eyes.
Two kept checking their phones.
Charles looked at the clock repeatedly.
At 9:14, the final signature page arrived in front of Ethan.
Charles leaned back.
“Eighteen months.”
He smiled.
“Your father would be proud.”
Ethan picked up the pen.
Then stopped.
“Would he?”
Charles’s smile weakened.
Ethan placed the pen down.
“I have one question.”
“Of course.”
“Why did Westbridge employ Rebecca Sloan?”
Silence.
Charles didn’t blink.
“I don’t know who that is.”
“Interesting.”
Ethan tapped the conference screen.
Rebecca’s hospital image appeared.
Several directors shifted.
“She tried to access my wife’s IV this morning.”
Charles looked toward the attorneys.
“This has nothing to do with the merger.”
“I disagree.”
Ethan changed the screen.
Bank records appeared.
Charles’s face went still.
“Sixty-two million dollars.”
No one moved.
“Transferred through Hargrove subsidiaries into companies connected to Westbridge.”
Charles stood.
“This meeting is over.”
“No.”
Ethan leaned back.
“It’s finally beginning.”
The boardroom doors opened.
Two federal investigators entered with corporate fraud officers.
Charles stared at them.
Then at Ethan.
“You have no idea what you’re doing.”
“I know exactly what I’m doing.”
“You’ll destroy your father’s name.”
“Maybe.”
“You’ll destroy this company.”
“Maybe.”
Charles leaned across the table.
“And you’re willing to do that?”
Ethan thought of Grace behind iron bars.
“Yes.”
Charles’s expression changed.
He finally understood.
Ethan no longer cared about protecting the empire.
And that made him dangerous.
An investigator approached Charles.
“Mr. Mercer, we need to speak with you.”
Charles laughed.
“You think this ends with me?”
Ethan watched him.
Charles lowered his voice.
“Ask your mother who canceled the ambulance.”
Ethan’s face changed.
May you like
Charles smiled.
Then the investigators escorted him out.
