Chapter 5
By sunrise, the gala felt like it had happened weeks earlier.
I didn’t sleep.
Rebecca and I met at Vance Capital headquarters before seven.
The building was nearly empty.
Exactly how I wanted it.
She placed a folder in front of me.
“The flash drive contains three categories.”
“Financial records.”
“Yes.”
“Board messages.”
“Yes.”
“And my medical files.”
“Yes.”
I opened the folder.
Copies of MRI reports.
Surgical notes.
Rehabilitation updates.
Even private physician comments.
My hands went cold.
“Who accessed these?”
“The hospital has started an internal investigation.”
I turned pages.
One note had been highlighted.
Patient prognosis improving faster than publicly understood.
Another:
Possible independent walking within four to six months.
Someone knew.
Someone knew I might recover.
Yet Brooke still believed I couldn’t.
So did Chad.
“What does that mean?”
Rebecca leaned forward.
“Maybe whoever obtained these didn’t share everything.”
“Why wouldn’t they?”
“Control.”
I hated that answer because it made sense.
Another document appeared.
A confidential succession memo drafted after my accident.
The board had discussed contingency leadership.
Normal.
Necessary.
Then I saw Victor Lang’s handwritten notation.
If E.V. remains incapacitated beyond Q4, recommend permanent transition.
My jaw tightened.
“He wanted me removed.”
“That isn’t illegal.”
“No.”
Rebecca turned another page.
“But this might be.”
An email.
Victor to Chad.
We need the Mercer losses to remain buried until the transition.
My pulse slowed.
There it was.
Direct coordination.
“Why is this on Chad’s drive?”
“Probably leverage.”
“So they didn’t trust each other.”
“People committing fraud rarely do.”
I stood and walked toward the window.
The city spread beneath us.
My father used to stand in this exact spot.
He believed loyalty could be built through years.
Maybe sometimes it could.
Maybe sometimes loyalty only lasted until opportunity appeared.
“Where is Victor?”
“At home.”
“Does he know?”
“No.”
“Good.”
The board meeting was scheduled for ten.
The same meeting Daniel had warned me about.
Rebecca looked at me.
“You don’t have to attend physically.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Ethan.”
“I’m going.”
“You’re exhausted.”
“So is everyone.”
“You’re injured.”
I looked at her.
“That’s not the same as incapable.”
She nodded.
“Fair.”
At nine-thirty, the boardroom began filling.
Eight directors.
Legal counsel.
Corporate secretary.
Victor arrived last.
Gray suit.
Red tie.
Perfect posture.
He smiled when he saw me.
“Ethan.”
“Victor.”
His eyes dropped briefly toward my cane.
“I heard about last night.”
“I’m sure.”
He took his seat.
“Quite a spectacle.”
“So I’m told.”
The other directors looked uneasy.
Some already knew about Mercer.
Some did not.
At ten exactly, I closed the doors.
“No phones.”
Victor frowned.
“Why?”
“Because this meeting concerns internal misconduct.”
Silence.
Phones were placed on the table.
Rebecca stood.
She began with the Mercer accounts.
Four million in suspicious payments.
Shell vendors.
False invoices.
Chad’s authorization.
Then she displayed Victor’s approval signatures.
Victor didn’t move.
“These can be forged.”
Rebecca nodded.
“We considered that.”
She displayed login records.
Two-factor authentication.
Office access logs.
Email confirmations.
Victor’s face tightened.
“I approved payments presented as legitimate.”
“That is possible,” Rebecca said.
Then she displayed his email to Chad.
We need the Mercer losses to remain buried until the transition.
Every head turned toward him.
Victor stared at the screen.
Finally he laughed.
“You’re building a story.”
“No.”
I spoke for the first time.
“You did.”
He looked at me.
Something changed in his eyes.
The fatherly warmth vanished.
In its place was contempt.
“You’re not ready for this company.”
The room became still.
I leaned back.
“Say more.”
“You inherited a machine you don’t understand.”
“My father thought differently.”
“Your father protected you.”
“He trained me.”
“He loved you.”
Victor smiled coldly.
“That made him blind.”
Anger flashed through me.
I controlled it.
“You believed I should be removed after the accident.”
“I believed the company needed leadership.”
“I never stopped leading.”
“You disappeared.”
“I was recovering.”
“Exactly.”
His voice rose.
“Markets don’t care about recovery.”
“So you stole?”
His face twisted.
“I stole nothing.”
“Then why hide Chad’s losses?”
Victor looked around.
“You all know Mercer Development was overextended.”
Several directors looked uncomfortable.
“We needed time.”
“Four million dollars worth?”
“You don’t understand complex restructuring.”
Rebecca interrupted.
“Victor, you should have counsel.”
He ignored her.
He looked at me.
“You want truth?”
“Yes.”
“You were going to destroy everything your father built.”
I almost smiled.
“So you saved it by committing fraud.”
“I moved pieces.”
“You moved money.”
“To protect the company.”
“Into fake vendors?”
Silence.
His defense was collapsing.
Then Victor said something unexpected.
“Ask Brooke.”
My chest tightened.
“What?”
“She knows.”
“What does she know?”
He leaned back.
“You think Chad found her by accident?”
Rebecca and I exchanged a glance.
Victor smiled.
“That relationship was useful.”
“To whom?”
He didn’t answer.
“Victor.”
He looked almost pleased.
“Brooke was supposed to keep you distracted.”
The room seemed to tilt.
I heard Rebecca say my name.
I barely registered it.
“What are you saying?”
“Chad met her because we wanted him near you.”
My hands tightened.
“Why?”
“To know what you knew.”
My stomach turned.
Brooke’s relationship with Chad had started after she left me.
Or had it?
“Did Brooke know?”
Victor smiled.
“Ask her.”
That answer wasn’t enough.
Security entered.
Victor finally realized the meeting was over.
“You cannot remove me.”
The board chair cleared his throat.
“Actually, we can.”
A vote was called.
Victor was suspended unanimously pending investigation.
Even directors who had defended him minutes earlier turned away.
As security escorted him out, he stopped beside me.
“You think Isabella is different?”
My blood ran cold.
“What did you say?”
He smiled.
Then security moved him away.
I stood.
“Stop.”
Everyone froze.
I stared at Victor.
“How do you know Isabella’s name?”
For the first time, his confidence slipped.
Only slightly.
But I saw it.
Rebecca saw it too.
“Victor?”
He said nothing.
I moved closer.
“How do you know her?”
His face went blank.
“I heard about the waitress.”
“She’s a banquet attendant.”
“Whatever.”
“No.”
I stared at him.
“You knew her name.”
Security tightened around him.
Victor smiled again.
But it no longer looked natural.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message from Isabella.
Ethan, someone followed me home.
I stopped breathing.
Another message appeared.
I think it’s the same black car from last night.
Victor watched my face.
And suddenly I understood.
May you like
This wasn’t finished.
Not even close.
