Chapter 4 - The Boardroom Ambush
They didn't wait long to escalate the situation. By 2:00 PM, the receptionist buzzed my phone, her voice shaking slightly.
"Ms. Cora... Douglas and his mother are in the lobby. He's demanding to see you. He says if you don't come out, he's going to make a scene and tell all the employees you're having a mental breakdown."
"Send them up to the main boardroom," I said calmly. "And tell security to stand by by the elevators."
I walked into the boardroom five minutes later. My lead corporate attorney, Sarah, was already sitting at the long mahogany table, her briefcase open.
Douglas and Cynthia stormed through the double glass doors a moment later. Douglas looked disheveled, his tie loose, his eyes wild with a mix of fury and desperation. Cynthia was right behind him, her chin held high, wearing a ridiculous oversized pair of sunglasses like she was a celebrity enduring a scandal.
"Are you insane, Cora?" Douglas shouted the moment the door clicked shut. "You cut off my email? You take my car? You have no right to do this to an executive of this company!"
"Take a seat, Douglas," I said, pointing to the chairs across from me.
"I am not sitting down!" he barked, slamming his hands on the table. "I have built this region for you! I have worked my fingers to the bone, and you throw a tantrum because my mother ruined a cheap dress?"
"It wasn't a cheap dress, darling," Cynthia chimed in, crossing her arms. "It was entirely inappropriate for a woman of your age anyway. Douglas is the reason this company hasn't gone under. If he walks, half your clients walk with him!"
I looked at Sarah, my attorney. She gave me a subtle nod.
I slid a perfectly bound, thick white binder across the polished wood table. It stopped right in front of Douglas.
"Open it," I commanded.
Douglas glared at me, then looked down at the binder. He hesitated, his bravado faltering for a fraction of a second. Slowly, he opened the cover.
His eyes scanned the first page. It was a printout of the bank transfers to Cyn-Oak Transit LLC.
I watched the exact moment his soul left his body. The blood drained from his face so fast he looked like a ghost. His hands began to tremble. He quickly flipped the page, then the next, seeing the fake invoices, the internal emails, the undeniable paper trail of his grand betrayal.
"What is that?" Cynthia demanded, stepping closer to look over his shoulder. "Douglas, what is she showing you? Is it the divorce papers? Don't sign anything!"
Douglas couldn't speak. His mouth opened and closed like a fish suffocating on dry land.
"It's a ledger, Cynthia," I answered for him, leaning forward. "A ledger of the four hundred thousand dollars your son embezzled from my company and deposited into a fraudulent LLC registered in your name."
Cynthia froze. She looked at Douglas, waiting for him to yell, to deny it, to call me a liar.
But Douglas just stared at the table, utterly defeated.
"Embezzled?" Cynthia stammered, her arrogant facade cracking. "That's... that's a lie. Douglas is the director! It's his money! He told me he was restructuring his bonuses!"
"He lied to you, Cynthia," I said, my voice cold and sharp as a knife. "He is not the owner. He never was. He was just a poorly performing employee who decided to steal from his wife to make his mommy proud. And unfortunately for you, because your name is on the LLC... you are a conspirator in a felony."
Cynthia gasped, taking a step back as if the binder were made of fire. She looked at her son in absolute horror.
"Douglas..." she whispered. "Tell her she's lying."
He finally looked up, tears of pure terror welling in his eyes.
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"Cora, please," he begged, his voice cracking. "Please, don't do this. We can fix this. I can pay it back. Don't go to the authorities."
"You watched her tear my clothes apart in my kitchen," I replied, standing up from my chair. "You let her believe I was nothing without you. Now, you both get to see exactly what you are without me."
