Emma called for three motions.
The first removed Adrian as chief executive pending a forensic audit.
The second reinstated the employees he had dismissed without board approval.
The third froze all transfers connected to a network of shell companies created during Emma’s pregnancy.
Each motion passed.
Adrian’s hand curled into a fist.
“You cannot do this.”
Emma’s voice remained calm.
“I just did.”
His chair scraped against the floor as he stood.
“This company exists because of me.”
“No,” Emma said. “It exists because my father built a transportation business, because I believed in your plans, and because thousands of people worked while you collected applause.”
“You will regret humiliating me.”
“I regret protecting you for so long.”
The meeting ended.
For three days, Adrian refused to leave headquarters.
He fired assistants, shouted at attorneys, and called investors who no longer returned his messages.
Meanwhile, auditors uncovered increasingly serious irregularities.
Money had been routed through consulting companies controlled by Vanessa’s brother.
Company aircraft had been used for private trips.
Properties had been purchased under false subsidiaries.
Yet one discovery troubled Emma more than the rest.
Six months earlier, Adrian had ordered Calloway Global to purchase a struggling medical-data company called Northbridge Analytics.
The purchase price had been absurdly high.
Daniel slid the report across Emma’s kitchen table after she returned home from the hospital.
“Northbridge had one valuable asset,” he said.
“What?”
“Access to patient profiles from several private clinics.”
Emma felt cold.
“My clinic?”
“Yes.”
“Why would Adrian purchase medical data?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Margaret, who was holding Grace near the fireplace, looked frightened.
Emma read through the documents.
Northbridge had accessed her prenatal records repeatedly. It had also searched genetic information connected to Adrian.
“Genetic information?”
Daniel nodded.
“There is another complication.”
He placed a laboratory report beside the audit papers.
The report was ten years old.
It listed Adrian Calloway as the patient.
Diagnosis: complete infertility caused by a childhood condition.
Emma read the sentence again.
Then she looked toward her daughter.
“No.”
Daniel’s voice was gentle.
“I am sorry.”
“That cannot be correct.”
“The laboratory confirmed the document is authentic.”
Emma stood so quickly that the chair tipped backward.
