Chapter 18 - The Pattern
Lydia did not look at Daniel when she entered.
She looked at the board.
“My name is Lydia Kane. Four years ago, I was fired after refusing to sign a false reconciliation for West Ridge Procurement.”
Patricia sighed dramatically.
“Another former fiancée.”
“Another woman you called unstable after she found your numbers,” Lydia replied.
She had brought emails.
One from Patricia told Daniel to “keep Lydia cooperative until the engagement dinner.”
Another instructed the controller to revoke Lydia’s system access immediately after she refused certification.
The language was almost identical to what Patricia had written about me.
Keep Elena out until after the ceremony.
I can manage her.
Pattern mattered.
Not because it proved every allegation by itself.
Because it destroyed the story that my concerns began after the slaps.
They had been managing women around financial problems for years.
The board voted to place Daniel and Patricia on administrative leave pending the independent investigation.
Daniel stood.
“You cannot remove me from my own company.”
Howard answered quietly.
“It was never yours because you were my son. It was yours because I trusted you.”
Daniel’s face twisted.
“You trusted her.” He pointed at Patricia. “You let her build all of this.”
Howard nodded.
“Yes.”
Patricia grabbed her handbag.
“This family will regret humiliating me.”
She reached the door before two investigators waiting outside asked her to remain available for an interview.
Nobody was arrested in the boardroom. Real life rarely moves that neatly.
But accounts were preserved. Records were copied. Outside investigators took custody of the relevant systems.
And Mercer Construction stopped pretending this was a wedding scandal.
It was a financial one.
As I left, Daniel caught up with me in the lobby.
“Elena.”
I kept walking.
“I can prove something worse than the reserve transfers.”
I stopped.
He looked exhausted.
“My mother did not create the plan to use your guaranty.”
“Who did?”
May you like
Daniel swallowed.
“I did.”
