Chapter 14 - The Woman in Red
Camilla stood in Aurelia's lobby wearing red again.
Not the gala dress.
A red suit this time.
Cameras surrounded her.
Reporters crowded the glass entrance.
She looked perfectly calm.
I almost respected the nerve.
Almost.
"Ms. Price," Leah said, "you are on administrative suspension. You are not authorized to conduct company communications."
Camilla smiled at the cameras.
"That's exactly why I'm here."
She held up a flash drive.
"Northstar's new owner has spent two days blaming everyone else. I have records showing Nora Vance manipulated this acquisition long before Aurelia sought outside capital."
I walked forward.
The cameras turned toward me.
Camilla's eyes flashed.
"There she is."
"You wanted an audience."
"You always did too."
"No. I wanted a clean balance sheet."
A few reporters laughed.
Camilla ignored them.
"Tell them about your mother."
That caught me.
"What about her?"
"Margaret Vance tried to take control of Aurelia seventeen years ago. You finished what she started."
The accusation was absurd.
But emotional stories do not need to be logical to spread.
I answered calmly.
"My mother owned six percent and was bought out after she demanded an investigation into your father's consulting network."
Camilla's expression changed.
She had not expected me to know.
"You found H17."
There it was.
A confession hidden inside surprise.
Every camera caught it.
I stepped closer.
"Yes. We did."
Leah held up a court-certified copy of the old settlement.
"Your father's controlled entities were barred from future contracting with Aurelia. Meridian violated that agreement."
Camilla laughed.
"Old paperwork."
"Current fraud," Ethan said from behind me.
He handed copies to reporters.
Bank flowcharts.
Meridian ownership.
Price trust funding.
Aurelia payments.
The room erupted with questions.
Camilla's calm finally cracked.
She turned toward Julian, who had just entered through the side doors.
"Tell them."
He stopped.
"Tell them Nora used you."
Julian looked at me.
Then at Camilla.
For years he had chosen the person who made him feel taller.
Now both of us were watching to see whether he had learned anything.
He walked to the microphones.
"Nora did not ask me for confidential Aurelia information."
Camilla stared.
"Julian."
He continued.
"I signed vendor approvals I should have questioned. I signed an affidavit without reading it carefully. I had an affair with Camilla Price. And I allowed personal resentment toward my wife to make me reckless at work."
No one moved.
Camilla looked like she might slap him.
"You pathetic coward."
Julian looked at her.
"Probably."
That honesty surprised me.
Camilla raised the flash drive.
"You think this saves either of you?"
She moved toward a reporter.
Leah stepped between them.
"That device is company evidence under a preservation order."
"Touch me and I'll sue."
Then Grant's voice came from the stairs.
"You might want to check your pocket."
Camilla froze.
"What?"
"The red suit. Inside pocket."
She looked at him.
Grant smiled.
"You left your phone in the executive lounge twenty minutes ago. Security returned it. You should know it was still recording."
Camilla's face went white.
We had not planted anything.
Security had simply followed standard evidence protocol after finding an unattended company-managed phone.
The recording captured her call to Evan Price.
Priya played it through the lobby speakers.
Camilla's own voice.
"If the press conference fails, move the remaining Meridian funds tonight. Use the Cayman route, not Delaware. And wipe anything tied to Lighthouse."
Silence.
Then chaos.
Reporters shouted.
Camilla lunged for the phone.
Security stopped her.
She screamed at Julian.
"You ruined everything!"
He looked at her.
"No. We did."
That distinction mattered.
Federal investigators arrived before the lobby emptied.
Camilla was not handcuffed dramatically in front of the cameras.
Real investigations are slower than movies.
But she was escorted into a conference room with counsel and did not come back out.
I thought the worst was finally over.
Then Malcolm called me upstairs.
"Nora, shareholder services found a proxy packet filed this morning."
"From who?"
"Julian."
I turned toward him across the lobby.
He looked confused.
Malcolm continued.
"The proxies represent nine percent of outstanding votes. Enough to challenge your board slate next Tuesday."
My pulse quickened.
"Are they valid?"
"We don't know."
"Who submitted them?"
Malcolm's answer made Julian swear.
May you like
"Evan Price."
