Chapter 9 - The CFO’s Choice
Thomas called the private number three nights later.
Nora brought him to the evidence apartment.
The CFO entered carrying a locked briefcase.
“I have worked for this company for twenty-nine years,” he said. “What I found made me ashamed that I did not look sooner.”
Inside the case were original transaction logs.
Carter had bypassed internal controls by using Charles’s dormant digital credentials.
Vivien submitted fake invoices through five shell companies.
The twenty-eight million dollars Serena had traced was only the beginning.
Carter had also promised secret success fees worth another eighty million if the Argent House acquisition closed.
Thomas placed a flash drive on the table.
“This contains recordings from two finance meetings.”
“Were the participants aware?” Nora asked.
“The company records all formal transaction meetings.”
In the first recording, a risk officer warned Carter that the acquisition was overvalued.
Carter ordered him removed from the project.
In the second, Vivien asked whether Serena could challenge the collateral.
Carter laughed.
“She doesn’t understand what she owns.”
Then Charles’s voice entered the recording.
“Do not underestimate Elaine’s trust.”
Carter replied, “Serena will sign whatever I put in front of her.”
Charles did not approve the fraud.
But he did not stop the transaction.
He merely told Carter to “keep the family problem away from the board.”
Serena removed her headphones.
Thomas looked devastated.
“I admired Charles.”
“So did my mother.”
“Do you intend to destroy the company?”
“No.”
“Recalling two billion could create a liquidity crisis.”
“Only if the company continues funding Carter’s acquisition.”
Thomas considered that.
“The board can cancel the transaction.”
“They will not act without fear.”
“What do you need from me?”
“The exact moment the funds become exposed.”
Thomas opened a calendar.
“The acquisition agreement will be executed during the gala. Carter wants the announcement made immediately after the succession speech.”
That was why he had accelerated everything.
Public applause would pressure the board to approve what had effectively already been signed.
Serena looked at Nora.
“Then we act before his speech.”
The independent directors were contacted one by one.
They received evidence but were not told Serena’s full strategy.
An emergency board meeting was scheduled in a private suite above the ballroom on the evening of the gala.
Carter would believe the directors were gathering to approve his promotion.
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Instead, they would decide whether to remove him.
👉 The gala guests expected to witness Carter inherit an empire, while the board upstairs prepared to learn that his wife had the legal power to take its foundation away.
