Chapter 15 - IF I FALL
The recording changed the board's posture overnight.
Until then, Aaron had been a compromised CEO caught between bad judgment, hidden relationships, and possible fraud committed by people around him.
After the recording, he became a CEO who had knowingly planned to neutralize a protected shareholder before she could obtain independent legal review.
That did not prove he authorized the forged transfers.
It did prove he had created the perfect environment for them.
Samuel called an emergency board session for nine the next morning.
Aaron's attorneys objected.
The meeting happened anyway.
At eight twelve, Jasmine sent Aaron a message.
He showed it to Melissa.
Then Melissa showed it to the audit committee.
IF I FALL, YOU FALL WITH ME.
A second message arrived.
TELL YOUR WIFE SHE SHOULD HAVE STAYED IN ROW FIVE.
I read it once.
Then handed the phone back.
Rebecca looked at me.
"You all right?"
"Yes."
I was not.
But I was finished letting that answer belong to anyone else.
The roads reopened shortly after sunrise.
Jasmine left Blackwood Ridge with her attorney before the board meeting.
She surrendered her company badge and loaner laptop.
Her assigned laptop remained missing with Nolan Price.
Federal investigators had already issued requests for his devices and records.
No one knew where he was.
At nine, the board convened.
Samuel spoke first.
"We have two immediate questions."
"Whether Mr. Prescott can continue exercising chief executive authority during the investigation."
"And whether the company should disclose additional information publicly."
Aaron sat at the head of the table out of habit.
No one asked him to move.
It somehow made the situation worse.
He looked like a king whose throne had become a witness chair.
His attorney spoke for nearly twenty minutes.
He argued that the recording was taken out of context.
He argued that exploring lawful ways to reduce legacy control provisions was not misconduct.
He argued that Aaron had no knowledge of fabricated signatures or unauthorized international transfers.
Some of that was true.
Truth had become Aaron's strangest problem.
The true parts no longer rescued the rest.
When his lawyer finished, Samuel looked at me.
"Mrs. Prescott?"
I shook my head.
"This isn't a divorce hearing."
Several directors looked surprised.
"I don't want the board deciding whether Aaron was a good husband."
Aaron stared at me.
"I want the board deciding whether he can protect the company while he is part of the conduct under review."
Samuel nodded.
"Understood."
Daniel presented the cash position.
The attempted thirty-nine-million-dollar wire remained frozen.
The original forty-four million had been located.
Twenty-two million sat in the Cayman account.
Another fourteen million had been routed through a Luxembourg subsidiary.
Eight million had paid what appeared to be consulting and property-related expenses.
"Can we recover it?" one director asked.
"Some of it," Daniel replied.
"All?"
"Too early to say."
Melissa presented the legal risks.
The Vale Strategic agreement appeared altered after execution.
The spousal consent contained unauthorized initials.
The offshore account used cloned certificates.
Aaron's recorded instructions showed intent to move quickly before Whitmore counsel reviewed the transfer.
Then she said something that surprised me.
"We also have evidence Mr. Prescott told Ms. Vale not to use unauthorized credentials."
Aaron looked up.
Melissa placed an email on the screen.
It was dated five months earlier.
Jasmine had asked whether she could reactivate legacy approval access to move a vendor payment through while Daniel was traveling.
Aaron's reply was clear.
No.
Use normal approval chain.
Do not touch old Whitmore credentials.
The room shifted.
Aaron looked at me.
I understood what the email meant.
He might truly not have known Jasmine and Eleanor used my token.
He had done terrible things.
That did not make him guilty of every terrible thing.
I forced myself to keep that distinction.
Because if I allowed anger to replace evidence, I would become part of the story Jasmine had sold about me.
Samuel asked Daniel about Nolan.
"We found certificate-recovery events tied to his administrator account."
"How many?"
"Seven."
"Whose credentials?"
Daniel read the names.
Aaron Prescott.
Alyssa Prescott.
Daniel Cho.
Melissa Grant.
Three subsidiary officers.
A director whispered, "Jesus."
Daniel continued.
"Not all were used."
"But they were cloned?"
"It appears so."
Aaron leaned forward.
"Why didn't security detect it?"
Daniel looked at him.
"Because Nolan was security."
The sentence landed heavily.
The board recessed for twenty minutes.
Aaron approached me in the hallway.
"You saw the email."
"Yes."
"I told her not to touch your credentials."
"Yes."
"Then say that."
I stared at him.
"To whom?"
"The board."
"Melissa already did."
"They'll listen differently if it comes from you."
I almost smiled.
"You want my credibility again."
His face tightened.
"I want the truth."
"So do I."
"Then tell them I'm not a thief."
"I don't know whether you're a thief."
He flinched.
"You know me."
"I thought I did."
"Alyssa."
I looked directly at him.
"I will never accuse you of something the evidence does not support."
He relaxed slightly.
"But I will also never use my name to protect you from something the evidence does support."
His shoulders dropped.
"You planned to dilute me."
"Yes."
"You concealed your relationship with Jasmine while approving contracts that benefited her."
"Yes."
"You intended to obtain my signature before my lawyer reviewed the legacy agreements."
He looked away.
"Yes."
"Then those truths go into the same room as the email that helps you."
He stared at me.
"That's fair."
The word sounded strange coming from him.
"It is."
The board reconvened.
The vote to place Aaron on temporary administrative leave passed six to three.
He would retain his title during the initial investigation but lose operational authority.
Daniel Cho was appointed acting chief executive.
Aaron did not react when Samuel announced the result.
He simply removed his company access card from his wallet and placed it on the table.
The gesture broke something in the room.
Several directors had known him since the beginning.
One wiped his eyes.
Aaron looked at Daniel.
"Protect payroll."
Daniel nodded.
"I will."
"Don't freeze the Atlas integration."
"I won't unless legal requires it."
"And the Seattle launch team needs the engineering budget by Friday."
Daniel's voice softened.
"I know."
For a moment, I saw the founder again.
Not the husband.
Not the man who betrayed me.
The founder who knew every team, every launch, every pressure point.
Then he stood.
He looked at me last.
"You won."
I felt anger rise immediately.
"No."
He frowned.
"This is not winning."
I gestured toward the room.
"The company has missing money, investigators are asking questions, your mistress fabricated a pregnancy, your mother used my identity, and our marriage is over."
My voice remained low.
"If you think this is what winning looks like, you still don't understand anything."
He looked away.
Then he left.
The board issued a public statement two hours later.
It disclosed the review of related-party transactions and unauthorized credential use.
It announced Aaron's temporary leave and Daniel's appointment as acting CEO.
The stock fell eleven percent.
Then it stabilized.
Employees flooded internal channels with questions.
Daniel held a company-wide video meeting.
He did not mention my marriage.
He did not mention Jasmine's pregnancy claim.
He said the company had discovered governance and authorization concerns, was cooperating with an independent review, and had sufficient liquidity to continue operations.
It was the first adult sentence anyone had said publicly all week.
That evening, I packed my suitcase.
The retreat was effectively over.
Most employees would leave in the morning.
I had no reason to stay.
At nine thirty, Thomas Bell called my suite.
"Mrs. Prescott, there is someone here to see you."
"Who?"
"Mr. Nolan Price."
I stopped packing.
"Nolan is here?"
"He arrived through the service entrance ten minutes ago."
"Is security with him?"
"Yes."
"Did he say why he came back?"
Thomas hesitated.
"He said he wants to give you something before Jasmine finds him."
Rebecca and I went downstairs together.
Nolan sat in a maintenance office with two resort-security employees outside.
He looked terrible.
His clothes were damp.
His hands shook.
A backpack sat at his feet.
Melissa joined us by video because she had already left for Seattle.
Rebecca spoke first.
"Mr. Price, you understand we are not your attorneys."
"Yes."
"You should have counsel."
"I called one."
"Where are they?"
"Driving here."
"Then why are you talking now?"
He looked at me.
"Because she's going to blame all of it on me."
"Jasmine?"
He nodded.
"Did you clone the certificates?" Rebecca asked.
His eyes filled.
"Yes."
The word changed everything.
I gripped the edge of the desk.
"Mine too?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"She told me it was authorized continuity testing."
Daniel, who had just arrived, laughed bitterly.
"You are deputy CISO. You know that isn't how continuity testing works."
Nolan looked down.
"I know."
"Then why did you do it?"
He was silent.
Rebecca answered for him.
"Money?"
Nolan nodded.
"How much?"
"Two million if the restructuring closed."
My stomach turned.
"And the offshore transfers?"
"Jasmine gave me instructions."
"Did Aaron?"
Nolan looked at me.
"No."
The answer surprised everyone.
"Did Eleanor?"
"No."
"Who authorized them?"
"No one."
He swallowed.
"We made it look like everyone did."
Daniel sat down hard.
"Why forty-four million?"
Nolan looked toward the backpack.
"Because that was the contingency pool Jasmine wanted before the restructuring closed."
"For what?"
"To leave."
I frowned.
"Leave where?"
"Leave Aaron."
The room became silent.
Nolan looked at me.
"She was never planning to stay with him."
Aaron's voice came from the doorway.
"What did you say?"
We all turned.
He had been standing outside long enough to hear.
Nolan went pale.
Aaron stepped into the room.
"You said she was planning to leave me."
Nolan looked at Rebecca.
"Should I stop?"
"Your lawyer is not here yet."
"I need him to know."
He reached into the backpack and removed a small external drive.
"This is a copy of Jasmine's actual laptop."
Aaron stared at it.
"You had it."
"She gave it to me to wipe."
"Did you?"
"No."
Nolan placed the drive on the table.
"I copied it first."
Rebecca did not touch it.
"Why?"
His answer came quietly.
"Because the night she told you she was pregnant, she sent me a message."
Aaron's face tightened.
"What message?"
May you like
Nolan looked at him.
"She said, 'He bought it. Now we just need the wife to sign.'"
