Chapter 13 - THE BOARDROOM
At 11:58 a.m., Evelyn walked into the boardroom wearing gold.
Rachel looked at her before they left.
“Really?”
Evelyn glanced down at the suit.
“What?”
“Gold?”
Evelyn smiled faintly.
“I have a reputation.”
The boardroom was packed.
Lawyers.
Directors.
Shareholders.
Reporters waited downstairs.
Victor joined by video from his hospital bed.
His face was burned.
One arm was bandaged.
But he was smiling.
Chairman pro tempore Richard Hayes cleared his throat.
“We're here to discuss Ms. Cross's ability to continue leading this organization.”
Evelyn sat.
“Then discuss.”
Hayes frowned.
“This isn't a joke.”
“No.”
Evelyn looked around.
“It really isn't.”
A director named Susan Bell leaned forward.
“You concealed the existence of a material heir.”
“I didn't know he existed.”
“You allowed a personal family dispute to become a corporate crisis.”
“My nephew was kidnapped by the son of a board member.”
Victor's eyes narrowed on the screen.
“Allegedly.”
Evelyn looked directly at him.
“You should've stayed unconscious.”
Several directors shifted uncomfortably.
Hayes slammed his hand down.
“Enough.”
“No.”
Evelyn opened a folder.
“You've all spent twenty-four hours discussing whether I embarrassed this company.”
“Let's discuss the men who nearly destroyed it.”
She placed copies of Daniel's ledger on the table.
Victor stopped smiling.
Evelyn continued.
“My brother discovered years of fraud.”
“Fraud conducted by Charles Cross.”
“My father.”
Nobody spoke.
“And facilitated by Victor Shaw.”
Victor laughed.
“Forgery.”
Detective Price entered the room.
Two uniformed officers stood behind him.
Victor's face changed.
Evelyn continued.
“We also recovered an audio recording.”
She pressed play.
Charles's voice filled the boardroom.
You killed my son.
Victor's recorded response came next.
He was going to expose us.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Susan Bell covered her mouth.
Victor shouted from the screen.
“That recording was obtained illegally!”
Evelyn looked toward him.
“Interesting defense.”
The officers beside Price moved toward Victor's attorney.
Hayes stared at Evelyn.
“What are you proposing?”
Evelyn closed the folder.
“First.”
“Victor Shaw is removed from this board effective immediately.”
“Second.”
“We cooperate fully with law enforcement.”
“Third.”
“We launch an independent audit going back twenty years.”
A director protested.
“That could destroy us.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“Then maybe we deserve to be destroyed.”
Nobody had ever heard her say anything like that.
Not even Claire.
Evelyn continued.
“And fourth.”
She looked toward the glass wall.
Rachel and Noah stood outside.
“Noah Bennett's legal inheritance will be recognized.”
Murmurs erupted.
Hayes shook his head.
“That could cost current shareholders hundreds of millions.”
“Yes.”
“You'd vote for that?”
“Yes.”
“You own the largest individual stake.”
“Yes.”
“You could lose control.”
Evelyn looked at Noah.
He was holding Daniel's photograph.
The old one.
The one he'd nearly dropped beside his lunch.
Evelyn turned back.
“Control isn't the same thing as leadership.”
Victor laughed bitterly through the screen.
“Spare us.”
Evelyn ignored him.
“For years, this company confused fear with discipline.”
“Silence with loyalty.”
“And perfection with strength.”
She looked around the room.
“That ends today.”
Hayes called the vote.
One by one, hands rose.
Audit.
Approved.
Victor removed.
Approved.
Noah's claim recognized.
The room hesitated.
Then Susan Bell raised her hand.
Another followed.
Then another.
Approved.
Evelyn exhaled.
For the first time all day.
Then Hayes cleared his throat.
“One final motion.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Removal of Evelyn Cross as director.”
Rachel's face fell outside the room.
Noah pressed closer to the glass.
May you like
Hayes called the vote.
Hands began rising.
