Chapter 4 - The Poisoned BoardroomAt 9:55 AM, the corporate headquarters of Aegis Health Systems was buzzing with media reporters and anxious board members. News of an internal family dispute had already been leaked to the press by Mason's PR team, dropping our pre-market stock value by eight percent.
The heavy mahogany doors of the main boardroom burst open.
Mason was sitting at the head of the long glass table, sipping high-end espresso. Rosalind sat to his right, wearing a black lace dress like a queen presiding over her court. Surrounding them were our eight major board investors, looking uneasy as they flipped through thick legal dossiers.
"Ethan!" Mason called out loudly, putting down his cup with a dramatic clink. "I warned you not to come. Security! Please escort this trespasser off the premises!"
Two security guards stepped forward, but I raised my hand, holding a hard copy of a certified court order.
"Touch me, and you'll be named co-conspirators in an active federal investigation," I said, my voice echoing through the acoustics of the room.
The security guards paused, glancing nervously at each other, then backed away.
"What is the meaning of this theater, Ethan?" snorted Marcus Vance, our lead venture capitalist shareholder. "Mason and your mother have presented notarized founder documents showing that forty percent of Aegis's initial capital was fraudulently funneled from a family trust without board disclosure. If this is true, your position as CEO is void!"
Rosalind dabbed her eyes with a silk handkerchief, putting on a masterful performance. "It breaks my heart, gentlemen," she sobbed softly. "I gave my life savings to my eldest son. And when I asked for my rightful share so I could retire, he threw me out onto the street and physically abused his pregnant wife in a fit of rage!"
"You're a brilliant actress, Rosalind," I said, walking to the head of the table opposite Mason. I pulled out my laptop and connected it to the boardroom's central 4K projection system. "But unfortunately for you, Hollywood isn't buying."
"Don't listen to him! Turn off the projector!" Mason shouted, slamming his hand on the table.
"Sit down, Mason," Marcus Vance ordered, his eyes narrowing. "Let him speak."
I inserted Daphne's black thumb drive into the laptop. The massive wall screen flickered to life, showing a crystal-clear, high-definition video with crystal-clear audio.
It wasn't the footage from my home study.
It was a recording from a private VIP room at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, dated two weeks ago.
On the screen, Mason and Rosalind were sitting across from a man wearing a dark trench coat—Victor Sterling, the CEO of Biomed Corp, our fiercest corporate rival.
The entire boardroom went dead silent.
On the screen, Mason handed a stack of confidential blueprints to Sterling.
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"These are the full patent schematics for Ethan’s new artificial heart valve," Mason’s recorded voice rang out clearly. "Once Mom and I push him out of the company using the fake family trust documents, we’ll sell Aegis’s core patents to Biomed Corp for twenty million dollars, bankrupt the company, and walk away clean."
Rosalind’s face on the video laughed hysterically. "And the best part? Ethan’s stupid wife thinks we’re just mean in-laws. They have no idea!"
