the chief executive officer.”
“For now,” Samuel replied.
The words struck harder than a shout.
Sophia turned to leave, but Dominic blocked her path.
“Where is Audrey?”
“Safe.”
“I need to speak to her.”
“She does not wish to speak to you.”
“I didn’t know what my mother did.”
Sophia looked at the champagne and then at Paige.
“You knew your wife had been taken away in an ambulance.
That was enough.”
Dominic had no answer.
At nine the next morning, Hale Development’s directors gathered in the glass conference room on the forty-second floor of the company’s headquarters.
Dominic arrived in yesterday’s clothes.
He had not slept.
Victoria came with him despite the board secretary’s warning that she had no official role.
Paige did not come.
She had left the mansion before midnight, taking two suitcases and the diamond bracelet Dominic had given her.
By sunrise, she had blocked his number.
Sophia sat at the far end of the table.
Beside her was a laptop, several binders, and a small encrypted drive.
Audrey’s chair remained empty.
Dominic noticed it immediately.
“Is she coming?”
“No,” Sophia said.
“She is recovering from a fractured wrist, three cracked ribs, a concussion, and a miscarriage.”
The room went silent.
Several directors looked toward Dominic with open disgust.
Victoria folded her arms.
“Audrey fell.
Everyone is treating an accident like a crime.”
Sophia connected the encrypted drive.
“Then the evidence should settle the issue.”
The screen displayed security footage from the mansion’s upstairs corridor.
Audrey appeared first, walking toward the staircase while Victoria followed closely behind.
The camera did not capture the landing itself, but the audio was clear.
Audrey’s voice said, “Please move.
I don’t want to argue.”
Victoria replied, “You don’t walk away from me in my house.”
There was a scuffle, a gasp, and the terrible rhythm of a body striking several marble steps.
Then Victoria’s voice came through, cold and distinct.
“Maybe now you’ll finally know your place.”
Nobody moved when the recording ended.
Dominic stared at his mother.
“You told me she slipped.”
Victoria’s composure finally cracked.
“She grabbed me first.”
“The camera shows her walking away.”
“She was provoking me.
She has provoked me since the day you married her.”
Samuel Brooks pushed his chair back.
“This meeting is about the company, but I will not sit here while you justify that recording.”
Sophia opened the first binder.
The company’s problems went far beyond the assault.
During the emergency review, Sterling Meridian’s auditors had uncovered unauthorized transfers, false vendor invoices, and personal expenses charged to corporate accounts.
Dominic had used company money for Paige’s apartment, luxury travel, and jewelry.
Victoria had billed her private events as investor relations.
Together, they had diverted more than two million dollars over three years.
Dominic looked stunned.
“Those expenses were approved.”
The chief financial officer spoke from across the table.
“You ordered my staff to classify them as promotional costs.
I objected in writing.”
Sophia placed copies of the emails in front of every director.
Dominic turned pages with trembling hands.
He remembered the messages, but he had never believed anyone would use them against him.
For years, employees had lowered their eyes when he raised his voice.
Vendors had waited outside his office for payment.
His mother’s name had opened doors throughout
