Leah hugged the twins tighter.
“What are you talking about?”
Evan slowly stood.
“The fertility tests.”
His voice cracked.
“They said I’m sterile.”
The room went silent.
Margaret grabbed the report.
Her face changed as she read.
Leah stared at Evan.
“That’s impossible.”
“The specialist said it was permanent.”
“I don’t care what some doctor said.”
“Youtold me they were mine.”
“They are!”
One of the babies stirred.
I turned toward the door again.
Then Evan noticed a second page behind the medical report.
Actually, it wasn’t part of the medical report.
It was something I had added.
A transaction summary from Rowan Meridian.
Leah saw it.
And for the first time that night, she looked truly afraid.
“Claire,” she said. “Where did you get that?”
I glanced back.
“From the company I control.”
Evan looked down.
Across the top of the page was one figure.
$47.3 million.
His voice fell to a whisper.
“What is this?”
“Your real problem.”
I walked out.
I spent that night in a downtown hotel registered under my attorney’s name.
At 8:03 the next morning, Rowan Meridian’s emergency board meeting began.
Evan arrived twenty minutes late.
He looked like he hadn’t slept.
Margaret came with him.
Leah didnot.
Six board members sat around the polished conference table.
My attorney, Daniel Shaw, stood near the windows.
I was already seated at the head.
Evan stopped when he saw me.
“What are you doing in my chair?”
I looked at him.
“It isn’t your chair anymore.”
Daniel distributed folders.
Evan didn’t sit.
“What the hell is this?”
I nodded toward the first page.
“A resolution suspending you as CEO pending investigation.”
He laughed.
“You can’t suspend me.”
“I can.”
“You need a majority vote.”
“I have one.”
His eyes hardened.
Margaret spoke quietly.
“Claire, don’t make family matters public.”
I turned toward her.
“Family matters?”
I slid another document across the table.
“Forty-seven-point-three million dollars was transferred from Rowan Meridian through six shell consulting firms over eighteen months.”
Evan stared at it.
“That’s ridiculous.”
