Chapter 13 - THE RECORDINGSVanessa demanded that the flash drive be played on the ballroom screen.
Nathan immediately objected.
Ethan told the technician to proceed.
Stopping the recording would make Nathan appear guilty.
The first audio file began.
Nathan’s voice filled the ballroom.
“I don’t care how you handle it.”
Vanessa’s recorded voice answered.
“You understand what will happen if anyone discovers the truth.”
Nathan replied.
“Just make sure Caroline signs the agreement.”
Gasps moved through the crowd.
Nathan looked horrified.
“I never said that.”
Vanessa smiled.
The next recording played.
Nathan’s voice said, “The baby doesn’t matter.”
Another clip followed.
“Once the shares are transferred, we can deal with everything else.”
The recordings sounded convincing.
Several board members exchanged worried looks.
Caroline studied the audio waveform displayed on the screen.
She leaned toward Ethan.
“The pauses are wrong.”
Ethan heard it too.
Each sentence contained a faint change in background noise.
Nathan’s words had been cut from different conversations.
Ethan asked the technician to stop the file.
Vanessa protested.
Ethan connected his own laptop.
He used audio-analysis software developed by Cole International’s security division.
The program separated the background frequencies.
One section contained the hum of an airplane cabin.
Another contained restaurant music.
A third contained the sound of Nathan’s office clock.
The sentences had been constructed from unrelated recordings.
Ethan played the original source files recovered from Nathan’s company phone.
In the first conversation, Nathan had been discussing a delayed construction project.
“I don’t care how you handle it,” he had told Damian.
“Just make sure Caroline signs the agreement,” came from a conversation about refinancing a family property.
“The baby doesn’t matter,” had originally been, “The name of the campaign doesn’t matter.”
Individual words had been rearranged.
Vanessa’s evidence collapsed in front of everyone.
Melissa stepped onto the stage.
She announced that the flash drive would be surrendered to investigators as evidence of attempted fabrication.
Vanessa backed away.
“This is Nathan’s company.”
She pointed toward the analysis software.
“They can make it say anything.”
Caroline approached the microphone.
“Then let an independent forensic laboratory examine it.”
Vanessa had no answer.
Nathan faced the cameras.
“I did not know the pregnancy was false.”
He looked toward Caroline.
“But I did betray my wife.”
The room remained quiet.
“I will not hide my own failure behind Vanessa’s crime.”
Caroline’s expression shifted.
It was not forgiveness.
But it was the first honest thing Nathan had said publicly.
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Security officers approached Vanessa and Damian.
Before they reached the stage, every light in the ballroom went out.
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