Grant looked almost amused.
“Of course not.”
“Did you pay Leonard Voss through a consulting account?”
“I do not know who that is.”
“Did you instruct Colin Mercer to destroy records in the North Archive?”
His smile vanished.
“These accusations prove exactly why the board must intervene.”
Darlene nodded to Evelyn.
The presentation screen changed.
First came the signed work order.
Then the garage access logs.
Then the emails recovered from the flash drive.
Grant’s face remained controlled until Colin’s recorded voice filled the room.
“Start the shredder fire.
The suppression system in this section is still disconnected.”
A director near the window pushed back from the table.
“Grant, what have you done?”
“Fabrications,” he said.
“All of it.
Darlene paid a janitor eighty-five thousand dollars to manufacture evidence.”
Every eye turned toward Blake.
He stepped forward and placed the cashier’s check on the table.
“The money is in escrow.
I have not received a cent.
The basement recording was captured before I knew what the archive contained.
Police recovered the solvent, the matches, and the original work order from separate locations.”
Grant pointed at him.
“You are a disgruntled employee with debt and a sick child.”
Blake met his gaze.
“Yes.
I have debt.
Yes, my daughter is sick.
Neither fact makes your emails disappear.”
Grant turned to the board.
“Even if these messages are authentic, Darlene still concealed a medical condition that affects her ability to lead.”
Darlene slowly removed her jacket.
The metal outline of the brace was visible beneath her blouse.
Several directors looked away.
Others stared.
For months, she had feared that exact moment.
She had imagined pity spreading through the room, followed by doubt and then surrender.
Instead, she stood straighter.
“I fractured my spine,” she said.
“I did not lose my mind.
I experience pain.
I attend rehabilitation.
I sometimes need help removing this brace.
None of those facts transferred my voting rights to my brother.
None gave him permission to sabotage my car, forge a doctor’s signature, or sell company assets to a trust he controls.”
Evelyn displayed the ownership records of the private investment group.
The final page showed Grant as the trust’s sole beneficiary.
The board erupted.
Grant lunged toward the laptop, but Blake intercepted him.
Grant swung once, wildly.
His fist struck Blake’s shoulder, and Blake used the momentum to turn him against the table without injuring him.
