Chapter 12 - The Boardroom Coup.
Mercer Home Systems occupied the top three floors of a glass tower that Claire's father had once called an unnecessary monument to ego.
Dominic loved the building.
Claire had always preferred the factory.
When she stepped from the elevator with Rachel and Evelyn, every conversation in the executive lobby stopped.
Dominic stood behind the boardroom doors speaking to two directors.
The metal cash box was nowhere in sight.
His expression barely changed when he saw Claire.
"You shouldn't be here."
Claire kept walking.
"It's my company."
"Not if the board activates the incapacity provision."
Rachel held up the forged physician's letter.
"The court declined to rely on this document less than an hour ago."
Dominic smiled.
"The board isn't the court."
Inside the room, seven directors were already seated around the long walnut table.
Claire recognized fear in their faces.
The operating accounts had been partially frozen.
Rumors of fraud were spreading.
Employees had begun calling human resources.
Dominic had created chaos, and now he intended to present himself as the only person capable of fixing it.
He began his presentation before Claire had even taken a seat.
"This company is facing a leadership emergency caused by an impulsive executive action."
Claire almost admired the speed of the lie.
He displayed charts showing delayed vendor payments and halted transfers.
He showed Claire's airport photograph with Daniel.
Then he displayed the edited kitchen clip.
One director shifted uncomfortably.
"Dominic," Claire said, "play the full video."
He ignored her.
"The board has a fiduciary duty to protect the company."
Rachel stood.
"Then the board should review evidence that company funds were routed to an entity owned by Mr. Mercer's romantic partner."
Silence settled over the room.
Claire placed the Harbor invoices on the table.
Then she placed the Northstar records beside them.
Then Sienna's messages.
Dominic's face finally tightened.
"Private messages obtained by an angry spouse prove nothing."
"How about server logs?" Claire asked.
Nathan entered carrying his laptop.
Dominic turned sharply.
Nathan connected to the boardroom screen and displayed the metadata for the amended voting proxy.
The document had been created on Dominic's laptop.
Claire's electronic signature had been inserted from an old acquisition contract.
The boardroom erupted in questions.
Dominic raised his voice.
"Nathan had access too."
Nathan looked at his brother.
"I did, and that's why I brought the access logs."
The logs showed Dominic's account opening the file at 2:13 a.m. three weeks earlier.
Then another record appeared.
The fake physician's letter had been uploaded from Evelyn's home Wi-Fi.
Claire looked at her mother-in-law.
Evelyn went pale.
"I didn't upload that."
Dominic laughed once.
"Of course you did."
Evelyn stared at him.
Then understanding crossed her face.
Dominic had used her network to make her look responsible.
The board chair called for an immediate vote to suspend Dominic's executive authority pending investigation.
Six hands rose.
Dominic's did not.
The motion passed.
For several seconds, he sat completely still.
Then every monitor in the boardroom went black.
Nathan looked at his laptop.
"What the hell?"
A deletion counter appeared on-screen.
Remote wipe initiated.
Thousands of company files began disappearing from the server.
May you like
Dominic slowly stood.
"If I don't have this company," he said, "neither do you."
