Chapter 15 - The Boardroom From a Hospital Bed.
The emergency board meeting began at ten o'clock the next morning.
Claire watched it from her hospital bed on a secure video screen.
She had no official role at Cole Meridian.
Lena had advised her not to speak unless asked.
Claire was perfectly comfortable with that.
For once, silence was a choice rather than something forced on her by medication.
Adrian sat at a small table beside the window.
He wore the same dark gray suit, freshly pressed by a hospital concierge.
His wedding ring remained off.
Margaret sat beside him.
Lena stood behind Claire with a folder of exhibits.
On the screen, twelve board members appeared around a polished conference table.
Victor sat at the head.
He looked composed.
"Adrian, I am sorry we have to do this while your family is dealing with a medical crisis."
Claire nearly smiled at the performance.
Adrian did not.
"Then do not do it."
Victor folded his hands.
"The company cannot ignore uncertainty about succession."
"There is no uncertainty."
"There is documented uncertainty."
Victor held up the original false paternity report.
"There are conflicting laboratory results."
A board member interrupted.
"The university test established paternity, didn't it?"
Victor nodded graciously.
"One test did."
Claire saw the strategy.
He was not claiming the truth was false.
He was claiming the evidence was messy.
Victor continued.
"We also have a compromised hospital bracelet, a disputed embryo inventory, and an attempted unauthorized infant transfer."
Adrian leaned forward.
"All of which were manufactured."
"That is your allegation."
"It is supported by evidence."
"Evidence gathered while you are emotionally compromised."
Margaret's face turned hard.
Claire remained still.
Victor looked directly into the camera.
"For the protection of the company, I propose Adrian temporarily step aside until the court determines whether the trust condition has been satisfied."
Lena whispered, "Now."
Adrian lifted one sheet of paper.
"The condition was satisfied seven years ago."
Victor's expression changed by less than a fraction.
It was enough.
A board member frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Adrian's voice remained calm.
"I have a biological daughter named Lillian Hart."
Victor stopped moving.
Claire watched every board member turn toward him.
Adrian continued.
"She was born seven years ago."
Victor spoke quickly.
"This is outrageous."
"Is it?"
Adrian held up the birth certificate.
"Because my uncle paid her mother six hundred thousand dollars shortly before the birth."
The boardroom erupted.
Victor stood.
"That agreement was private family business."
Adrian's eyes hardened.
"So you admit the agreement exists."
Victor realized the mistake immediately.
Lena's eyebrows rose.
Claire almost admired the efficiency of it.
A board member named Susan Park leaned toward the camera.
"Victor, did you know Adrian had a biological child?"
Victor sat down again.
"I knew Vanessa claimed to be pregnant."
"That was not the question."
"There were doubts."
Adrian lifted the old prenatal genetic report.
"You had this."
Victor's face tightened.
"I had concerns about its reliability."
"Then why pay Vanessa to keep my name off the birth certificate?"
Victor did not answer.
Susan Park looked toward board counsel.
"If Adrian had a biological child seven years ago, what happens to the trust?"
The attorney looked visibly uncomfortable.
"The voting shares should have transferred upon legally sufficient proof."
"Should have?"
"Yes."
Another director spoke.
"Then Victor may have exercised control over shares he no longer had a right to control."
Silence swallowed the room.
Victor leaned forward.
"This is a coordinated attempt to destroy me based on documents supplied by a criminal woman who is desperate to save herself."
Claire finally spoke.
"No."
Every face on the screen turned toward her.
Victor's eyes narrowed.
Claire kept her voice calm.
"The documents were supplied by Daniel Monroe."
Victor's expression froze.
There it was.
The first genuine fear Claire had ever seen on his face.
She continued.
"He preserved Bellweather's original records before he died."
Victor's mouth tightened.
"I do not know who that is."
Adrian looked directly at him.
"That is interesting."
"Why?"
"Because your company paid his employer millions of dollars."
Victor pushed back from the table.
"I will not participate in this circus."
He stood.
Susan Park stopped him.
"Sit down, Victor."
He looked at her.
"Excuse me?"
"The board is voting on a different motion."
"What motion?"
"To suspend you as chair pending independent investigation."
Victor stared around the table.
For the first time, he looked alone.
The vote passed nine to two, with one abstention.
Victor did not speak after the result.
He simply closed his laptop connection.
Adrian leaned back in his chair.
Margaret exhaled.
Claire expected relief.
Instead, she felt a new dread.
People like Victor were most dangerous when public power disappeared.
Her phone buzzed.
It was a message from an unknown number.
She opened it.
A photograph loaded.
It showed a little girl with dark hair standing outside a red school building.
Claire's blood went cold.
Beneath the photograph were six words.
ADRIAN SHOULD HAVE TAKEN THE DEAL.
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