Chapter 6 - The Boardroom Trap
Harold Price, our board chairman, opened the meeting.
“Serious allegations have been raised.”
“I know,” I said.
Adrian sat across from me.
His attorney sat beside him.
Tessa sat beside Michelle.
Harold adjusted his glasses.
“Claire, Adrian alleges that you assaulted Ms. Lane.”
“Yes.”
Adrian blinked.
He hadn’t expected that.
Harold stared.
“You admit it?”
“I slapped my sister after discovering she knowingly continued an affair with my husband for three weeks after learning who I was.”
Whispers filled the room.
Harold turned toward Tessa.
“Sister?”
“My birth name is Theresa Bennett.”
Adrian looked down.
Harold rubbed his forehead.
“This is exceptionally complicated.”
“No,” I said. “It’s becoming exceptionally clear.”
Adrian stood.
“She assaulted a pregnant employee.”
“I did.”
I turned toward Tessa.
“And it was wrong.”
She looked at me.
“I apologized privately.”
Then I faced the board.
“I’ll say it publicly too. I had no right to hit her.”
Tessa swallowed.
“I accept.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
He wanted chaos.
I gave him accountability.
Harold continued.
“Adrian has also raised concerns about Claire’s emotional stability.”
Michelle slid folders across the table.
“Then perhaps we should examine where those concerns originated.”
The fake medical letter appeared.
Then Adrian’s emails.
Then surveillance invoices.
Then the recruitment request targeting Tessa.
His face changed.
“Those files were stolen.”
Michelle smiled slightly.
“You recognize them?”
Adrian froze.
His attorney closed his eyes.
“I recognize private documents.”
“So they’re authentic?”
He stopped talking.
Board member Susan Hale leaned forward.
“Adrian?”
He sat down.
“I want counsel.”
“You have counsel,” Harold said.
Adrian’s attorney whispered urgently to him.
Michelle placed the Helix Capital documents on the table.
Susan read them.
Her face hardened.
“You negotiated a sale without board authorization?”
“It was exploratory.”
“You discussed replacing Claire as CEO.”
“She was becoming unreliable.”
“Based on a medical evaluation by a doctor she never met?”
Adrian remained silent.
Then Tessa spoke.
“He knew who I was before he hired me.”
Every face turned.
She told them everything.
The old encounter in Boston.
The recruitment.
The affair.
The pregnancy.
The family investigation.
Then I placed Richard Bennett’s journal on the table.
Adrian’s composure finally cracked.
“Where did you get that?”
I looked at him.
“You recognize it.”
“No.”
“You just asked where I got it.”
His attorney whispered, “Stop talking.”
Harold leaned forward.
“What is that?”
“My father’s journal.”
I opened to the entries.
“Six years ago, Adrian began asking my father about my finances.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“He asked how much of Bennett & Cole I owned.”
“Claire—”
“He asked about my sister.”
“Stop.”
“He asked how to make me doubt myself.”
Adrian shot to his feet.
“Your father was insane!”
The room became silent.
I looked at him.
“So you knew him.”
His face turned pale.
There it was.
The mistake.
One angry sentence destroyed six years of denial.
Adrian stared toward the door.
Two detectives entered.
James Parker was one of them.
“Mr. Cole.”
Adrian’s attorney stood.
“My client will not answer questions.”
Parker nodded.
“That is his right.”
Adrian looked at me.
“You called the police?”
“No.”
Michelle answered.
“The bank did.”
His expression changed.
Parker placed a folder before Harold.
“We’re investigating several transfers connected to Bennett & Cole accounts.”
Harold went completely still.
I noticed.
So did Parker.
Adrian frowned.
“What transfers?”
His attorney grabbed his arm.
“Do not answer.”
Parker continued.
“Approximately four-point-seven million dollars moved through consulting entities over seven years.”
My stomach dropped.
I looked at Adrian.
“You stole from us.”
“No.”
“Then explain it.”
“I don’t have to explain anything.”
He grabbed his briefcase.
Detective Parker stepped aside.
“You’re free to leave.”
Adrian smiled.
Then Parker added, “But we will be requesting that you surrender your passport.”
The smile vanished.
Adrian turned toward Tessa.
“Come with me.”
She shook her head.
“Tessa.”
“No.”
“You’re carrying my child.”
“That does not make me yours.”
His face twisted.
“You think Claire cares about you?”
Tessa flinched.
He saw it.
He attacked immediately.
“She hit you.”
I stood.
“Adrian.”
“She hated you the second she learned the truth.”
“Stop.”
“She will never trust you.”
Tessa’s eyes filled.
Adrian smiled.
“That baby will remind her of me every day.”
I walked between them.
He looked triumphant.
I turned my back on him.
I faced my sister.
“Tessa.”
She looked at me.
“I don’t know how long it will take me to trust you again.”
Adrian’s smile widened.
I continued.
“But I will never punish your child for what he did.”
His smile disappeared.
Tessa started crying.
“You mean that?”
“Yes.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“You self-righteous—”
Parker blocked him.
“That’s enough.”
Adrian pointed at me.
“You think you won?”
“No.”
I looked directly at him.
“I think you finally lost control.”
He laughed.
“You still don’t understand.”
“What?”
He leaned toward me.
“Your company isn’t the biggest thing they stole from you.”
My stomach tightened.
“Who is they?”
His attorney grabbed him.
“Adrian.”
But Adrian kept smiling.
“Ask Harold what happened to Evelyn Bennett’s trust.”
I slowly turned.
Harold Price looked like he had stopped breathing.
My mother’s trust had been worth nearly nineteen million dollars.
By the time I gained control of it, only seven million remained.
Dad had blamed bad investments.
Harold had confirmed it.
I stared at the man who had attended every birthday after my mother died.
“Harold?”
He stood abruptly.
May you like
His chair fell backward.
Then he ran.
