I looked through the camera at Daniel.
He was already staring up at me.
He knew.
“Send everything to the board,” I said.
Helen paused. “All of it?”
“All of it.”
Daniel stepped closer to the door, his voice shaking now.
“Rachel, whatever you think you found, I can explain.”
I ended the call and pressed the speaker again.
“I’m sure you can,” I said. “But today, you’ll explain it to lawyers.”
Part 3The emergency board meeting began at three.
Daniel arrived with Patricia beside him, as if his mother could still intimidate adults in suits. She wore sunglasses indoors and clutched a designer bag I now knew had been purchased with my corporate card.
Security escorted them into the legal conference room.
Not my office.
Not the executive floor.
A windowless room with recording equipment and no coffee.
When I entered, Patricia stood.
“How dare you treat my son like a criminal?”
I placed the torn dress on the table between us.
“How dare you destroy my property while spending stolen money?”
Her face twitched.
Daniel sat rigidly. “Rachel, we should talk privately.”
I took my seat beside Helen.
“No. Privacy is how you built this mess.”
Helen opened the first file.
Hotel charges in Miami.
Jewelry purchases.
Personal dinners marked as client development.
Tuition payments for Daniel’s nephew.
Medical bills for Patricia.
Monthly transfers to an account in Patricia Hayes’s name.
Patricia stared at the screen. “Daniel gave me that money.”
“From my company,” I said.
She looked at him slowly.
For once, her anger turned in the right direction.
Daniel leaned forward. “Those were reimbursements.”
Helen slid another document across the table. “For what services did your mother provide?”
Patricia snapped, “I don’t work for you.”
Helen nodded. “Exactly.”
The room went still.
Then came the vendor contracts.
Three shell companies tied to Daniel’s cousins.
Inflated invoices.
Duplicate consulting fees.
Fake logistics reports.
The preliminary loss was $640,000.
