who generated forty percent of the projected annual revenue?”
“A problem who believed she was untouchable.”
The cruelty in his voice was familiar.
It was the same amused contempt he had carried into meetings, hallways, and late-night calls.
He believed intimidation was proof of authority.
Camille kept her own voice level.
“You sent the termination notice without legal review, board approval, or a transition plan.
You also sent it while knowing seven major client agreements contained key-person clauses.”
“I did not know that.”
“That is not a defense.”
Lucas looked toward his father.
“She designed those clauses to protect herself.”
Martin shook his head.
“The clients requested them.
They wanted continuity because Camille had led the negotiations and understood the implementation details.”
Robert replaced his glasses.
“How much business is currently suspended?”
Martin checked another screen.
“Three renewals are frozen.
Two pending agreements have been placed on hold.
The bank has requested a revised forecast and an explanation of the leadership disruption.”
“How much?”
“Just over thirty-one million dollars at immediate risk.”
The figure landed harder than any accusation.
Lucas leaned away from his camera.
“Camille can call the clients tonight.
She can explain there was an administrative misunderstanding.”
The library seemed to grow colder.
Camille looked at him.
“You fired me for performance, falsified my personnel file, and told me to prepare for unemployment.
Now you want me to tell our clients it was an administrative misunderstanding?”
“You have a responsibility to the company.”
“I had a responsibility to the company this morning.
You terminated it.”
Robert’s jaw tightened, but Camille was not finished.
“I will not contact any client while my legal status is unclear.
I will not misrepresent what happened.
And I will not repair damage while the person who caused it continues giving orders.”
Lucas laughed once, harshly.
“There it is.
She’s holding us hostage.”
“No,” Evelyn said.
“She is preventing further exposure.”
The board chair turned to Monica.
“Has Lucas’s system access been suspended?”
“Not yet.”
“Do it now.”
Lucas’s expression cracked.
“You cannot suspend an executive officer in the middle of a financing process.”
“I can suspend an executive officer suspected of falsifying employment records and financial projections.”
A notification sounded from Lucas’s computer.
He glanced down, tapped his keyboard, and then tapped again.
His login had stopped working.
Robert watched his son’s panic in silence.
Camille had spent years wondering what it would take for Robert Bennett to see Lucas clearly.
Complaints had always been softened before they reached him.
Executives called Lucas inexperienced instead of reckless.
They called him intense instead of cruel.
Every excuse had been wrapped in the language of potential.
Now the excuses were trapped beneath documents, timestamps, and his own written threats.
Evelyn asked Camille to continue.
She opened to a set of meeting notes dated three weeks earlier.
Three executives had been present when Lucas warned that people who embarrassed him did not stay employed.
All three had initially remained silent.
One of them was Martin.
The CFO looked down before speaking.
“I heard him say it.”
Robert’s gaze sharpened.
“Why did you not report it?”
Martin swallowed.
“Because I believed I could manage the situation.
I thought Lucas would calm down after the board meeting.”
“You thought wrong,” Evelyn said.
“I did.”
The second witness, operations
