Chapter 2 - What the Recording HeldWeston stormed inside without a coat, his white shirt half-buttoned, a hospital visitor band still around his wrist. He spotted me near the gate and hurried forward.
Then he saw Vivian and Marcus. He stopped abruptly.
"Why are they here?"
Vivian stayed calm. "Because Louisa requested an emergency meeting under Article Seven."
Weston laughed, though his face had gone pale. "My wife doesn't understand corporate bylaws."
"Your wife wrote Article Seven with her father," Marcus said.
I opened my tablet. Nine directors appeared on the secure call.
Weston 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 Priya's brother. Her apartment billed as "temporary executive housing." Prenatal care buried under employee wellness expenses. And a forged approval carrying my electronic signature.
Renata had traced every transfer, and Marcus confirmed the original server logs had been preserved.
Weston first called the payments retention incentives. Then he blamed Priya. Finally, he blamed me.
"Louisa 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 flicker of doubt from Vivian's face.
I opened one final audio file. Two nights earlier, Weston 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 Louisa's trust. She signs whatever I put in front of her."
Priya laughed. "And after the baby?"
"I'll make Louisa look unstable, divorce her, and keep the company."
Silence. Weston reached for the tablet. Marcus moved it out of range.
Vivian called the vote. Eight directors suspended Weston immediately. One abstained. A second vote froze his executive access and referred the evidence to federal authorities and Aldergate's insurers. His watch and phone started buzzing as his company access and corporate cards were shut off, one after another.
"You planned this," he whispered.
"I documented it," I said.
Marcus handed him the suspension notice. Vivian handed me the blue folder. Inside was the signed board resolution appointing me interim executive chair until an independent CEO could be selected.
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Weston stared at the seal, then out at the jet on the tarmac. He finally understood — I wasn't fleeing.
I was flying to Portland to stop the acquisition he'd planned to use as cover for the theft.
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