Two directors disconnected from the call.
They did not get far.
Federal investigators were already outside the boardroom.
Nathan leaned toward the camera.
“You recorded me illegally.”
“You were inside my home.”
“That house belongs to the family trust.”
“No.
It belonged to the trust until you transferred your interest six years ago to cover your gambling debts.”
His face changed.
That debt had been another secret he assumed I did not know.
I had paid the lender through an intermediary to prevent public scandal, but I kept every document.
Nathan’s anger surfaced at last.
“You kept everything,” he said.
“Every mistake.
Every signature.
Every weakness.”
“I kept records.
You kept resentment.”
He laughed bitterly.
“You built an empire and gave me a ceremonial title.
You let me smile for cameras while you made every decision.”
“You asked to run the foundation.”
“Because you never trusted me with the company.”
“Today explains why.”
Nathan struck the desk.
“I helped build your name.”
“And this morning you tried to drug me out of it.”
The room at my end remained silent.
Claire stood near the door with Eli and his mother, Rosa, who had arrived moments earlier.
Rosa held her son so tightly that his cheek pressed against her shoulder.
Nathan saw them on the edge of the camera frame.
“Who is the child?”
Eli stepped forward before anyone could stop him.
“I’m the one who saw your man poison the coffee.”
Nathan stared at him.
The contempt in his face lasted only a second, but every director saw it.
“You expect the board to trust a catering worker’s child?” he asked.
Rosa flinched.
I did not.
“No,” I said.
“I expect them to trust the video, the badge records, the toxicology report, the payment trail, and the confession Howard Brennan is currently giving to federal investigators.”
Nathan looked toward the attorneys beside him.
They had moved away.
A pounding sounded from the front of my house.
“Federal officers,” a voice announced.
“Open the door.”
Nathan’s eyes stayed on mine.
“You would send me to prison?”
“You sent poison to my office.”
“It wasn’t poison.”
The denial came too quickly.
I leaned closer to the camera.
“Then you knew what was in the cup.”
Nathan realized what he had admitted.
