"Armand?"
"Not here yet. Making them wait. Standard power play."
Her mouth tightens. She knows the tactic. The uncle wants the board unsettled before he walks in with whatever lies he's prepared.
We take the executive elevator. She pulls out her phone, checks something, puts it away. The doors open on the executive floor and we step into a hallway that smells like expensive carpet and corporate warfare.
Henry's waiting outside Conference Room B. He's been Simone's corporate attorney for years according to the briefing Remy gave me. He's good at his job. Loyal.
"They're inside," he says. "Full board except Armand. He's making an entrance."
"The evidence?" Simone asks.
"Preliminary financial trace. Shell corporation payments traced to Deveraux Oil subsidiary. Timeline correlates with your corporate decisions. It's not court-ready but it's compelling enough to show the board this is a power play, not legitimate fiduciary concern."
"Will it be enough?"
"Should be." Henry's voice is careful. "But Armand's been working these relationships for decades. Some of them will need more than preliminary evidence. They'll need to see you hold your ground."
She nods. She understands. This is as much about perception as proof.
"Luc can observe but he's not a board member," Henry continues. "He'll need to stay back from the table."
"Understood." I already knew that. My role today is watching. Protecting what I can. Reading the room for threats that don't carry weapons.
The conference room doors open. A woman steps out. Elegant, calculating. A board member. Eleanor something. I recognize her from the briefing materials.
"Simone." Her voice is neutral. "We're ready to begin."
Inside, the conference room is what I expected. Long polished table. Leather chairs. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city. The board members already seated. Watching her enter like predators assessing prey.
I take a position against the back wall. Close enough to intervene if someone gets aggressive. Far enough to stay out of the corporate theater... for now.
She moves to the head of the table. Her seat. CEO position. Doesn't ask permission. Just claims it.
"Thank you all for coming on short notice," she begins. Her voice is steady, commanding. "I'm sure you've seen this morning's press conference. My uncle has made serious allegations. Before we discuss those, I want you to hear the preliminary evidence that has been compiled regarding my uncle's involvement in the surveillance and stalking operation that's been targeting me."
Good opening. Framing the narrative before Armand can poison it.
The board members shift. Some lean forward, interested. Others sit back, arms crossed. Skeptical. I catalog reactions, sort allies from threats. Some are already with the uncle. A few genuinely undecided. A handful might stay with her if she doesn't flinch.
Henry stands, opens his briefcase, pulls out documents. Starts distributing them.
"What you're looking at is a preliminary financial trail," he says. "Shell corporation. Offshore payments totaling hundreds of thousands to Julien LaSalle—the man conducting surveillance on Simone. The trail leads to a Deveraux Oil subsidiary."
One of the board members interrupts. Older man, silver hair, entitled expression. "Julien LaSalle. The man Armand mentioned in this morning's press conference? The one he claimed was a concerned former associate?"
"He was the stalker," she says. Her voice is ice. "He planted cameras in private spaces. Sent threatening photographs. Escalated to direct action before being executed to prevent him from revealing who funded the operation."
The word hangs. Executed. Some of the board members don't blink. Others look uncomfortable. Good. This is messy. Personal. Corporate governance mixed with murder.
"The preliminary trace," Henry continues, pulling focus back to evidence, "shows the timing correlates directly with corporate disputes between Simone and Armand Deveraux."
He pulls up financial documents on the screen. Wire transfers. Corporate registration structures. Timeline analysis.
"These payments began three days after Simone rejected Armand's proposal to restructure executive leadership. They increased after she blocked his merger attempt. The pattern is clear—when Simone refused to cede control, someone funded an operation designed to discredit her."
The room goes quiet. The evidence is landing. Even the skeptical board members are processing implications. Then the doors open. Armand Deveraux walks in like he owns the fucking room. My hands flex. The man who funded surveillance on Simone. Who paid Julien to stalk her. Who orchestrated murder to cover his tracks. Standing across the room wearing a custom suit and practiced concern.
