Chapter 7: The Vote Chad Thought He Owned
“My mother was in the car?” I asked.
Helen nodded.
“She discovered Chad had been moving company funds through false suppliers.”
“My mother left us after the accident.”
“No,” Maria said.
“Edmund sent her away.”
“Why?”
“To protect her from Chad,” Helen replied.
“She agreed to testify, but Chad threatened to expose Graham’s false confession and destroy the family name.”
My hands went to the table.
“Where is she now?”
“I don’t know.
Edmund arranged everything privately.”
Daniel lifted the hotel pass Mrs.
Foster had found.
“Chad sent men to Maria’s home.
He may go after Graham’s mother next.”
The board meeting began at nine the next morning.
Chad sat in my father’s chair, with Brooke on his right.
“You’re suspended,” he said when I entered with Isabella, Maria, Helen, and Daniel.
“I’m a shareholder.
I have the right to attend.”
Arthur Bell raised his hand.
“Let him speak.”
Chad pushed a contract across the table.
“The sale of the three hotels is ready.
We vote in ten minutes.”
Helen connected her laptop to the wall screen.
“First, you will watch Edmund’s final recording.”
Brooke stood.
“That recording was obtained illegally.”
“It came from a witness named in the document.”
Maria stepped forward.
“That witness is me.”
Chad’s confidence slipped, then returned.
“A former caregiver with financial problems.
How much did Graham promise you?”
Maria placed Brooke’s torn check on the table.
“Your partner offered the money.”
Brooke spun toward her.
“You cannot prove that came from me.”
Daniel set his phone beside the check.
Her voice played from its speaker: “Isabella signs a statement.
Maria says her memory is unreliable.
Graham withdraws his challenge.”
Brooke stared at him.
“You recorded me?”
Daniel nodded.
“After what happened in the ballroom, I recorded every conversation.”
Arthur pushed the sale contract away.
“Play Edmund’s video.”
My father’s face filled the screen.
Chad tried to close the laptop, but Isabella stepped in front of it.
“You ordered me searched,” she said.
“You threatened my mother’s care.
You’re not touching this.”
Chad turned to the board.
“This is emotional theater.
The notarized document still gives me control.”
The door opened.
A woman in a dark blue coat walked in carrying a folder.
Her hair was gray now, but I knew her eyes.
“Not after I testify,” she said.
“Mother?”
She crossed the room and touched my face.
“I’m sorry it took me so long.”
Chad backed toward the window.
“You signed a confidentiality agreement.”
“I signed it because Edmund believed you would hurt Graham’s future if I spoke.”
“You have no proof.”
She opened the folder.
“I kept the supplier records, the bank transfers, and the original passenger statement.”
Brooke grabbed her purse.
“Chad told me those were destroyed.”
Every board member heard her.
Chad turned on her.
“Be quiet.”
“No,” Brooke said.
“You said Graham would remain in that chair and no one would question the transfer.”
Arthur rose.
“Remain in this room.
I’m calling federal investigators.”
Chad snatched the laptop and ran toward the side door.
Daniel blocked him, but Chad shoved the computer onto the floor and crushed the memory card beneath his shoe.
“There,” Chad said, breathing hard.
“Now you have nothing.”
My mother held up her phone.
“The files were uploaded before I entered,” she said.
“And you just destroyed evidence in front of eleven witnesses.”
Two investigators entered through the main doors.
Chad looked at Brooke.
“Tell them this was her plan.”
Brooke stepped away from him.
“You forged the signatures.”
“And you took the envelope.”
“Because you threatened me!”
One investigator approached Chad.
“Sir, put your hands where I can see them.”
Chad glared at me as the investigator secured his wrists.
“You always needed someone to save you, Graham,” he said.
“First your father, then me, and now a banquet girl.”
I stood beside Isabella.
“No, Chad.
She reminded me how to save myself.”
Brooke tried to follow the investigators out.
The second investigator stopped her.
“Ms.
Brooke, you’re coming with us.”
Her eyes found mine.
“You loved me once,” she whispered.
“If any part of that was real, don’t let them take everything.”
Before I could answer, Helen’s phone rang.
She listened for several seconds, then looked at me.
May you like
“The development company already transferred the purchase money,” she said.
“Chad completed the hotel sale before this meeting began.”
