CHAPTER 8 — THE MAN INSIDE
Malcolm arrived at Robertson Global headquarters at eight the following morning.
He had no idea my father was waiting for him.
Neither did he know the building’s security system had been instructed to preserve every movement he made.
He entered the executive elevator.
His access card was denied.
A security officer approached.
“Mr. Reeve, Chairman Robertson has requested that you come to the boardroom.”
Malcolm smiled.
“Tell Finnley I have a meeting.”
“The boardroom, sir.”
Inside, my father sat at the head of the table.
Evelyn stood beside him.
Three independent directors attended by video.
I watched from a separate office with Toby asleep in my arms.
Malcolm entered carrying his usual leather briefcase.
“What is this?”
Dad pressed a button.
The recording played.
Finnley trusts me. He signs whatever I place in front of him.
Malcolm’s face barely changed.
“That audio has been manufactured.”
“A forensic team disagrees.”
“Then your forensic team is mistaken.”
My father slid several banking records across the table.
Payments had been routed through consulting firms controlled by Malcolm’s brother-in-law.
Those firms transferred money into accounts connected to Jasper.
The missing four million dollars had not disappeared.
It had been used to purchase Robertson Global shares through disguised holding companies.
Jasper and Malcolm were building a private voting block.
They intended to force my father into retirement following a manufactured financial crisis.
“You planned to take my company,” Dad said.
Malcolm sat down slowly.
“I planned to modernize it.”
“You stole from it.”
“I protected it from your emotional decisions.”
“Was investing in Jasper an emotional decision?”
Malcolm looked toward the camera.
He knew I was watching.
“You allowed your daughter to influence a transaction she didn’t understand.”
I handed Toby to the nurse and entered the boardroom.
Malcolm turned toward me.
“You should be recovering.”
“I am.”
“This isn’t your concern.”
“You used my marriage to gain access to my father’s company. You forged my financial consent. You helped my husband spy on me.”
His calm expression finally cracked.
“You have no idea what your husband told us about you.”
“Then tell me.”
“He said you were desperate to prove you could survive without your father. He said you would protect the marriage no matter what happened.”
The truth stung because it was close enough to what I had once believed.
Malcolm leaned back.
“Jasper understood you better than you understood him.”
“No,” I said. “He understood the woman I used to be.”
My father suspended Malcolm immediately.
Security collected his phone, laptop, and access cards under the terms of an internal preservation order.
As officers escorted him from the boardroom, Malcolm paused beside me.
“You think removing Jasper will save you?”
“I’m not trying to save myself from Jasper.”
Malcolm smiled faintly.
“You should be.”
That afternoon, an anonymous envelope arrived at my father’s estate.
Inside was a photograph of me asleep in my hospital bed.
Toby’s bassinet stood beside me.
Someone had taken the picture from inside the room.
May you like
Written across the back were nine words:
Take the settlement, or you may lose your son.
