Chapter 5 - The Boardroom Ambush
At 6:50 AM the following morning, the top floor of the Everhart Global Tower was suffocating with tension.
Twelve senior board members sat around the massive mahogany table, whispering quietly as they reviewed printed copies of the morning's scandal. Lucas Everhart sat near the end of the table, looking pale and exhausted, but with a triumphant glint in his eye. Beside him stood his father, Richard Everhart—Nathaniel's bitter uncle.
"This is unacceptable!" Richard slammed his palm onto the table. "Nathaniel has brought an unvetted federal liability into the core of our organization! This woman could be wiretapping our private meetings right now!"
"Calm down, Uncle Richard," Nathaniel’s voice echoed smoothly as the heavy double doors swept open.
Nathaniel walked in, dressed in a sharp three-piece black suit. Right beside him was Claire. She was no longer wearing catering black or torn silk. She wore an immaculate, ice-blue tailored suit, her hair pulled back into a sleek bun, looking every bit the high-powered executive she was.
The room fell completely silent.
Lucas smirked, leaning forward. "Claire... or should I call you Special Agent Bennett? I'm surprised you had the nerve to show up today."
Claire didn't take a seat. She walked directly to the head of the table, pulled a sleek metallic flash drive from her pocket, and plugged it into the master presentation hub.
"Let's skip the small talk, Lucas," Claire said, her voice cutting through the room like a razor. "You leaked those photos to the press at 11:42 PM last night from a burner device registered to your personal assistant."
Lucas flinched. "That's an absurd accusation—"
"On screen right now," Claire continued as the giant display lit up, "are the complete wire logs of Everhart Vector from the past eighteen months. You didn't just siphon forty million dollars from the Children's Foundation gala fund. You routed that money through three offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands, co-managed by Grant Vale."
Richard Everhart jumped out of his chair. "What is the meaning of this?!"
"It means your son was using Everhart Global's infrastructure to launder money for Vale Broadcast Group," Claire said, turning her icy gaze directly to Lucas. "And the reason I know those photos from Chicago were taken five years ago is because I was the lead financial analyst who put Grant Vale's former business partners in federal prison."
Lucas’s face went completely ghost-white. He looked at the screen, where line after line of encrypted bank transfers, IP addresses, and signed shell-company contracts were displayed in horrifying detail.
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"You... you set me up," Lucas stammered, his breath catching in his throat.
"You set yourself up when you decided to steal from sick children and buy Madison Vale sapphire rings," Claire replied coldly. "I was giving you a chance to surrender quietly. But your girlfriend decided to tear my dress, and you decided to run to the press."
