Chapter 17 - The Boardroom
At noon, twelve directors filled the Mercer Development boardroom.
My face appeared on a wall-sized screen from the hospital.
Ryan's longtime ally, Charles Voss, cleared his throat.
"Emily, no one questions what you've been through. But stability matters."
"Then let's talk about stability."
Dana shared the North Vale transfers.
Four point eight million scheduled.
Two million in performance bonuses.
One hundred fifty thousand paid to Mark Ellison.
Then she displayed the forged medical proxy.
Charles stopped looking sympathetic.
He started looking nervous.
"I didn't know about this."
"Maybe you didn't," I said. "But you were prepared to hand Ryan more power today without asking why he needed it."
Another director spoke.
"What are you proposing?"
"Freeze all North Vale activity. Commission an independent forensic audit. Suspend every officer who approved undisclosed related-party transactions."
"Including Ryan?"
"Especially Ryan."
The vote passed nine to three.
Then Dana raised one final issue.
"We have evidence that board packets were altered last quarter to hide consulting payments. We need to know who authorized the changes."
The general counsel opened a folder.
Three approvals carried Charles Voss's electronic signature.
His face collapsed.
"Those aren't mine."
I knew that sentence.
I had said the same thing about the proxy.
Someone had forged him too.
The forensic team traced both signatures to the same device.
Vanessa's company laptop.
But the login token used to approve them belonged to Ryan.
For months, they had been building control by manufacturing consent.
After the meeting, Dana smiled at me through the screen.
"You kept your company."
"For today."
"For today is enough."
Then Ortiz called.
"Emily, Ryan's detention hearing just ended."
"What happened?"
"He's staying in custody. But his attorney disclosed something we didn't know."
My stomach tightened.
May you like
"What?"
"Ryan has been recording Vanessa for months too."
