Chapter 4 - The Boardroom ConfrontationForty-eight hours later, an emergency board meeting was called at the headquarters of Vance Global Logistics.
Roger Vance, Derek's father and the CEO of the firm, burst into the executive boardroom demanding to know why six of their primary shipping lines had been unexpectedly suspended overnight.
He stopped dead in his tracks at the doorway.
Sitting at the very head of the conference table, flanked by four senior corporate attorneys, was me. I wasn't wearing my mechanic’s overalls. I wore a bespoke charcoal suit, my hands folded calmly on the polished mahogany surface.
"What is this?" Roger demanded, his face turning red as he looked around the room. "Is this some kind of sick joke? Why is my son's father-in-law sitting in my chair?"
"Sit down, Roger," I said quietly.
He didn't sit. He glared at the attorneys lining the wall. "You can't suspend our logistics agreements without cause! We have ironclad contracts!"
Arthur Pendelton slid a thick black folder across the long table. "Actually, Roger, we can. Every lease, distribution contract, and credit facility your company holds with Apex Holdings contains emergency termination clauses tied to moral turpitude, criminal exposure, and fraud."
Roger stared at the documents, then turned his gaze toward Derek, who was sitting nervously near the corner of the room. "Derek... what did you do?"
"Nothing!" Derek shouted, sweating through his collar. "He's bluffing! He's just an old mechanic!"
I placed a second folder on the glass table. Inside were high-resolution photographs of Arianne’s bruised wrists, her emergency room medical reports, and the audio recording of her frantic 1:12 a.m. phone call.
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Bertha, who had followed her husband into the room, scoffed loudly. "This is a private family dispute! It has nothing to do with business!"
"My daughter was unconscious on your bathroom floor," I said, my voice cutting through the room like a razor. "It became my business the moment your son laid his hands on her."
