Chapter 10 — The Day the Board Turned Against Me
Chapter 10 — The Day the Board Turned Against Me
By eight in the morning, every screen in Solmere was showing my face.
Not the photograph from the lobby.
Not the video of me being dragged across the marble floor.
This time, it was my mother's old portrait.
Underneath it, a headline repeated across every television in the hotel:
CHARLOTTE VALE ACCUSED OF FINANCIAL FRAUD AS BOARD MOVES TO REMOVE HEIR
I stood in the executive hallway and watched the headline change.
My name appeared again.
Then another accusation.
Unauthorized transfers.
Misappropriation of company funds.
Forgery.
Fraudulent ownership claims.
By the time the third headline appeared, I understood.
The board had moved first.
And they had done it perfectly.
They weren't trying to prove I wasn't the owner.
They were trying to convince everyone that the rightful owner was a criminal.
My phone rang.
Preston.
I didn't answer.
It rang again.
Then a message appeared.
Emergency board meeting. 9:00 a.m. Attendance required.
I smiled bitterly.
They wanted me in the room.
That meant they were confident.
Too confident.
I walked toward the boardroom.
Every employee I passed looked at me.
Some whispered.
Some looked away.
One woman actually stepped aside as if I were dangerous.
I couldn't blame them.
If I had seen those headlines without knowing the truth, I might have believed them too.
When I opened the boardroom doors, every seat was occupied.
Preston sat at the center.
Nathaniel was gone.
Adrian was still in the hospital.
Vivian had been arrested.
Yet somehow the remaining board members looked completely prepared.
There were lawyers.
Accountants.
Security officers.
And, sitting beside Preston...
the woman I had least expected to see.
Evelyn Cross.
Nathaniel's wife.
She smiled at me.
“Charlotte.”
I stopped.
“You're here.”
“Of course.”
“You're not on the board.”
“Not officially.”
She placed a folder on the table.
“But today that may change.”
I looked around.
“Where is Nathaniel?”
Nobody answered.
I took my seat.
Preston stood.
“Charlotte, this meeting concerns the future of Solmere Hotel Group.”
“I know.”
“You've been accused of financial misconduct.”
“I know.”
“You've been accused of concealing assets.”
“I know.”
“You've been accused of attempting to manipulate company ownership through unauthorized documents.”
I smiled.
“You forgot attempted murder.”
The room went silent.
Preston's face tightened.
“You have no evidence of that.”
“I have video.”
“Video of what?”
“The attack.”
“The attack was caused by a private dispute.”
“No.”
I looked toward the board.
“It was planned.”
One of the directors cleared his throat.
“Ms. Vale, we're not here to debate speculation.”
“Then why are you here?”
He hesitated.
Preston answered.
“To protect Solmere.”
I laughed.
“From me?”
“Yes.”
I leaned back.
“You're protecting the company from its legal owner.”
Preston slid a document across the table.
“Until the investigation is complete, the board has voted to suspend your executive authority.”
I looked at the document.
Then at him.
“Who voted?”
He pointed around the table.
One by one, the directors avoided my eyes.
Every single one had voted against me.
Except one.
I looked at her.
“Mrs. Ellison?”
She stared at the table.
“I had no choice.”
“There is always a choice.”
She whispered:
“Not with them.”
My heart tightened.
I looked toward Preston.
“You threatened them.”
“No.”
“Then what did you do?”
Nothing.
That silence told me enough.
I stood.
“Fine.”
Preston looked surprised.
“You accept the suspension?”
“No.”
I picked up the document.
“I accept that you're afraid.”
His face changed.
“Afraid of what?”
I held up the paper.
“Because every signature on this document is evidence.”
“Evidence of what?”
“Conspiracy.”
The lawyers immediately began whispering.
Preston slammed his hand on the table.
“Enough.”
I smiled.
“Did I touch a nerve?”
“You're finished, Charlotte.”
“No.”
I looked at the directors.
“I'm just getting started.”
The board's next move came within an hour.
My company accounts were frozen.
My access cards were deactivated.
My private office was sealed.
Security escorted me from the executive floor.
The same hotel where I had been humiliated now treated me like a trespasser.
Again.
But this time, I didn't fight.
I walked calmly through the lobby.
Hundreds of guests watched.
Reporters stood outside.
Employees whispered.
A security guard approached.
“Ms. Vale…”
He looked uncomfortable.
“I've been instructed to escort you out.”
I smiled.
“It's okay.”
As I walked toward the entrance, I noticed something.
The security camera above the lobby.
The same camera that had recorded my assault.
I stopped beneath it.
Then I looked directly into the lens.
“Keep recording.”
The guard frowned.
“What?”
I smiled.
“Everything.”
Then I walked out.
Marcus was waiting across the street.
He opened the passenger door.
I got in.
“They suspended me.”
“I know.”
“They froze my accounts.”
“I know.”
“They turned the board against me.”
“I know.”
I looked at him.
“Stop saying you know.”
He smiled faintly.
“Sorry.”
I handed him the contract.
“I need you to find out who prepared this.”
He examined it.
“Already did.”
I stared.
“Who?”
“Evelyn Cross.”
I frowned.
“Nathaniel's wife.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Nathaniel disappeared.”
“What?”
“He left the city.”
“When?”
“Last night.”
I looked at the hotel.
“So Evelyn took over.”
“Temporarily.”
“She wants Solmere.”
Marcus nodded.
“But that's not the worst part.”
“What is?”
“She has the second account.”
My stomach dropped.
“How?”
“She accessed it before the board meeting.”
“Can she move the money?”
“No.”
“Then why access it?”
“To make it look like you did.”
I stared at him.
“She transferred something.”
“How much?”
“Twenty-six million.”
My blood ran cold.
“Where?”
“Into an account controlled by a government contractor.”
“Whose name?”
Marcus looked at me.
“Yours.”
I couldn't speak.
The silence inside the car felt suffocating.
“She moved twenty-six million dollars into an account in my name.”
“Yes.”
“Then she'll report it.”
“She already has.”
“To whom?”
“The authorities.”
I closed my eyes.
This was the trap.
The contract.
The second account.
The stolen money.
Everything was being connected to me.
Marcus looked at me.
“Charlotte.”
“What?”
“You have to disappear.”
“No.”
“You could be arrested.”
“Not if I prove the transfer was forged.”
“By the time you prove it, the money will be gone.”
“Then we find it.”
“Charlotte—”
“I said no.”
I looked at him.
“They've spent years preparing this.”
Marcus nodded.
“And?”
“They think I'm going to panic.”
I smiled.
“I'm not.”
That evening, I went to the one person who could help me.
Victor Hale.
The original trustee.
The man my mother had told me to find.
I located him at a private residence outside the city.
He opened the door himself.
He was older than I expected.
Gray hair.
Sharp eyes.
And when he saw me, his expression changed.
“You look like your father.”
I froze.
“You knew him?”
Victor nodded.
“Better than most.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
He opened the door wider.
“Come inside.”
I stepped in.
The house was filled with old photographs.
My father.
My mother.
My grandfather.
And someone else.
A woman I didn't recognize.
I pointed.
“Who is she?”
Victor stared at the photograph.
“That…”
He stopped.
“That's Evelyn Cross.”
I turned.
“Nathaniel's wife?”
“Yes.”
“How did my parents know her?”
Victor sighed.
“Because she was once your mother's closest friend.”
I stared at him.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“That's impossible.”
“Your mother and Evelyn built Solmere together.”
I felt dizzy.
“Then why would she destroy it?”
Victor looked at me.
“Because Nathaniel convinced her that your mother had betrayed her.”
“Betrayed her how?”
“He told her your mother was stealing from Solmere.”
“But she wasn't.”
“No.”
Victor's voice became quiet.
“She was protecting it.”
I looked around.
“What happened?”
“Evelyn believed Nathaniel.”
“And my mother?”
“She discovered the truth too late.”
“What truth?”
Victor walked to a locked cabinet.
He opened it.
Inside was a file.
He handed it to me.
I opened it.
The first page contained an old photograph.
My mother.
Evelyn.
Nathaniel.
My father.
All four standing together.
The date was twenty-one years earlier.
I stared.
Victor said:
“They weren't enemies then.”
I turned the page.
A contract.
Then another.
Then a letter.
The final document stopped me.
It was written by my mother.
If anything happens to me, Charlotte must never inherit Solmere directly.
I looked at Victor.
“Why?”
“Because ownership alone won't protect her.”
“What will?”
Victor pointed to the final paragraph.
“Control of the original trust.”
I read it.
My mother had created a separate trust in my name.
One that could not be accessed by the board.
Not by Preston.
Not by Nathaniel.
Not by Evelyn.
Not even by me.
There was only one condition.
I had to prove that the board had attempted to remove me illegally.
I looked at Victor.
“They wanted me to trigger the trust.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“By forcing you into a position where you'd fight back.”
I stared.
“The board turning against me…”
“Was exactly what your mother wanted.”
I felt my heart pound.
“So the suspension…”
“Wasn't their victory.”
“It was the trigger.”
Victor smiled.
“Now you have access to everything your mother hid.”
My phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
YOU TRUST VICTOR?
I froze.
Another message arrived.
ASK HIM WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FATHER.
I looked at Victor.
His expression changed.
“You received something.”
I showed him.
He sighed.
“It's time.”
“Time for what?”
“To tell you what happened nine years ago.”
He walked to the window.
“Your father survived the accident.”
“I know.”
“He was taken to a private facility.”
“By Nathaniel?”
“No.”
I waited.
Victor turned.
“By your mother.”
I stared.
“Why?”
“Because your father had been compromised.”
“How?”
“He was working with Nathaniel.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You said my father was fighting him.”
“He was.”
“Then why?”
Victor looked at me.
“Because Richard discovered Nathaniel had infiltrated the government.”
I froze.
“He went undercover.”
“And my mother knew?”
“Yes.”
“She hid him.”
“Yes.”
“From everyone?”
“Everyone.”
I whispered:
“Even me?”
“Especially you.”
I felt tears burn my eyes.
“All those years…”
“Your father believed that if Nathaniel knew you were connected to him, you'd be killed.”
I turned away.
The truth hurt more than the lies.
Then Victor said something that made me look back.
“Charlotte.”
“What?”
“Your father wasn't the man behind the board.”
I waited.
Victor's face became grim.
“He was the man who built the board.”
My blood went cold.
“What?”
“He created the network.”
“Why?”
“To protect Solmere.”
“Then how did Nathaniel take control?”
Victor stared at me.
“Because Richard trusted the wrong person.”
“Who?”
Victor's eyes moved toward the door.
I turned.
Nobody was there.
But on the table beside me sat a photograph.
A photograph I had never seen before.
My father.
My mother.
Victor.
And a fourth person.
A man standing behind them.
I recognized him immediately.
The same man who had appeared in the hotel lobby.
The same man who had been watching me.
The same man whose voice had been captured on the security recording.
Elias Grant.
But beneath his photograph was a handwritten name.
ELIAS VALE.
I stared.
“Vale?”
Victor nodded.
“Your father's brother.”
I couldn't breathe.
“My uncle?”
“Yes.”
“The man everyone said died before I was born?”
Victor's expression was grim.
“He didn't die.”
I looked at the photograph again.
“Then where is he?”
Victor answered softly.
“Inside Solmere.”
My phone buzzed again.
A final message appeared.
THE BOARD ISN'T YOUR ENEMY, CHARLOTTE.
THEY'RE AFRAID OF HIM TOO.
Then another.
RUN BEFORE HE FINDS YOU.
I looked at Victor.
“Who sent this?”
He didn't answer.
“Victor.”
He looked toward the window.
Then he whispered:
“Your uncle.”
Outside, a black car stopped in front of the house.
The headlights went out.
A door opened.
A man stepped onto the pavement.
I couldn't see his face.
But I knew one thing.
He had come for me.
And for the first time, I understood the real reason the board had turned against me.
They weren't trying to take Solmere from me.
They were trying to put me somewhere they believed he couldn't reach.
May you like
And somehow...
they had failed.
