Chapter 3 - The Boardroom Confrontation
Monday morning, 9:00 AM.
The corporate headquarters of Hargrove Coastal Resorts in downtown Providence was a monument to modern luxury—glass, steel, and polished marble. But today, the atmosphere in the executive boardroom was toxic.
Callum Hargrove sat at the head of the mahogany table, looking exhausted and disheveled. He had spent the weekend balancing calls between his PR team, trying to spin a false narrative about his wife's "hysterical accident," and preparing for the emergency board meeting with the regional investors.
Paige Renshaw sat to his right, wearing a sharp white blazer, acting as if she owned the entire company.
The heavy glass doors of the boardroom swung open.
Silence descended instantly.
I walked in. I was pale, wearing a structured navy coat, my belly prominent beneath my clothes. Dr. Sterling had discharged me an hour ago with strict orders to avoid stress, but the only stress I felt was the desire to burn this corrupt empire to the ground.
Callum bolted upright in his chair, his eyes widening in shock. "Marin? What are you doing here? You should be resting at home—"
"Quiet, Callum," I said. My voice was calm, carrying an authority that made him freeze mid-sentence.
I walked to the head of the table, pulled out the chair directly opposite him, and sat down. Jude Barrett stood quietly by the door, holding a sleek black tablet.
Paige scoffed, crossing her legs. "Marin, really? Coming here to make a scene after what happened on Saturday? Everyone knows you tripped over your own gown because you were intoxicated—"
Slap.
The sound wasn't physical; it was digital. Jude tapped the tablet.
On the massive sixty-inch LED screen mounted on the boardroom wall, the high-definition video from the service entrance camera began to play.
The entire room watched in stunned silence as Paige Renshaw conspired with Callum to protect their corrupt financial dealings, watched her explicitly plot to get rid of me, and watched her fake the assault before Callum ran over to push his seven-months-pregnant wife into freezing water.
Callum’s face turned the color of ash. He stared at the screen, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.
Paige leaped out of her chair, her face twisted in panic. "That’s—that’s AI! That’s manipulated footage! Marin hacked the security system!"
"Sit down, Miss Renshaw," a deep, gravelly voice echoed from the doorway.
May you like
Arthur Vance, the senior managing partner of the venture capital firm holding sixty percent equity in Hargrove Resorts, stepped into the room. Behind him stood federal postal inspectors and corporate fraud investigators.
Mr. Vance looked at Callum with absolute disgust. "I’ve seen enough. The Singapore contract is canceled. An independent forensic audit of the past six months reveals that Miss Renshaw and Mr. Hargrove diverted over $680,000 in development funds into unauthorized offshore accounts."
