Chapter 7 - The Boardroom BetrayalThe emergency board meeting began at nine the next morning.
Trevor arrived early.
He wore a dark suit, a blue tie and the expression of a man prepared to apologize without surrendering anything.
Elise hated how composed he looked.
Five directors sat around the table.
Grace attended as Elise’s counsel.
Naomi waited in another room with an attorney Grace had recommended.
Trevor began before anyone else could.
“I want to acknowledge my personal misconduct.”
Elise stared at him.
He continued.
“I had an affair with Naomi.”
One director looked down.
Another shifted uncomfortably.
Trevor spoke calmly.
“There is no excuse for that. I betrayed my wife.”
Elise almost admired the strategy.
Confess to the thing everyone could prove.
Then use the confession to make everything else sound like revenge.
Trevor continued.
“When Elise discovered us yesterday, she threatened to destroy my career.”
“That’s a lie,” Elise said.
Grace touched her arm.
Trevor looked wounded.
“She was understandably devastated.”
Elise’s fingers curled beneath the table.
He placed a folder before the board.
“But personal pain cannot be allowed to destabilize the company.”
Adrian spoke.
“What exactly are you alleging?”
“That Elise authorized consulting payments to her sister through N.W. Creative.”
Elise stared at him.
“She then attempted to characterize those same transfers as theft after discovering our affair.”
“That is insane.”
Trevor looked at her.
“You sent the authorization emails.”
“They were forged.”
“The server will determine that.”
“It already has.”
Trevor’s expression changed only slightly.
Elise saw it.
A tiny pause.
The first crack.
Adrian distributed the IT report.
“The messages were sent from Elise’s personal laptop.”
Trevor recovered.
“Which supports my position.”
“No,” Elise said. “I was out of town each time.”
Trevor shrugged.
“You travel with multiple devices.”
Grace leaned forward.
“We also have evidence N.W. Creative performed no legitimate consulting services.”
Trevor’s eyes moved toward her.
“Naomi can clarify that.”
The board chair, Helen Sawyer, looked toward the door.
“Is Naomi prepared to testify?”
Grace nodded.
Naomi entered.
She looked terrified.
Elise did not smile at her.
Naomi sat.
Helen asked, “Did you perform the services described on these invoices?”
“No.”
“Did Elise instruct you to create the company?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
Naomi looked at Trevor.
“He did.”
Trevor remained calm.
“Naomi, be careful.”
Her eyes hardened.
“You told me Elise was withholding money from me.”
“I told you what I believed.”
“You created the invoices.”
“I helped.”
“You told me where to transfer the money.”
Trevor leaned forward.
“You signed every instruction voluntarily.”
Naomi’s face paled.
Elise understood immediately.
He was reminding her she was legally exposed too.
Helen raised a hand.
“Enough.”
Trevor then produced the altered executive authorization.
Grace challenged it.
Trevor challenged Grace’s memory.
The meeting deteriorated.
After three hours, the board recessed.
When they returned, Helen spoke directly to Elise.
“We are not removing you as chair.”
Elise exhaled.
“But until an independent forensic review is completed, you will temporarily step back from approval of extraordinary financial transactions.”
Elise stared.
“What?”
“This protects the company.”
“From me?”
“From uncertainty.”
Trevor sat silently.
She looked at him.
He had not won.
But he had accomplished exactly what he needed.
Doubt.
The board also suspended Trevor’s treasury access pending investigation.
That should have felt like a victory.
It didn’t.
Outside the conference room, Elise confronted him.
“You planned this.”
Trevor adjusted his cuff.
“You should be careful what you accuse people of.”
“My mother wanted to fire you.”
His hand stopped.
There.
Another crack.
“Grace told you that?”
“She did.”
Trevor smiled faintly.
“Your mother was dying. She suspected everyone.”
Elise stepped closer.
“You knew Naomi resented me.”
Trevor said nothing.
“You used her.”
His eyes hardened.
“Naomi made choices.”
“So did you.”
“Yes.”
For the first time, he dropped the performance.
“And you’ve been making choices for everyone since you were twenty.”
Elise stared at him.
“This company is not your birthright just because your mother handed you a larger piece.”
“You married me.”
Trevor leaned closer.
“Maybe you should start asking why.”
He walked away.
Elise stood frozen.
Then her phone rang.
Grace.
“Elise, we found something in the archived personnel files.”
“What?”
“Your mother didn’t merely investigate Trevor.”
May you like
Grace paused.
“She had drafted his termination letter three days before she entered hospice.”
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