Chapter 17 - Khloe Walks Into the Boardroom
Khloe was finished watching other people decide her future.
She crossed the underground passage connecting Ashford Tower to a neighboring parking structure.
Gabriel accompanied her.
Four security officers followed.
By the time they reached Thorne Tower, Marcus had restored limited communications.
Conrad’s security team tried to stop Khloe at the executive elevator.
Gabriel stepped forward.
“She is a voting shareholder.”
The guards hesitated.
Khloe looked directly at them.
“And if anyone puts a hand on me, every camera in this lobby will preserve the decision.”
They moved aside.
The boardroom doors opened at 6:11 p.m.
Every conversation stopped.
Conrad stared at her.
“You should be resting.”
Khloe walked to the table.
“I’ve rested enough.”
Vance watched her carefully.
Marcus stood.
Khloe looked at him.
No embrace.
No dramatic reunion.
Just one question.
“Did you accept his deal?”
“No.”
She believed him.
For now.
Khloe placed her mother’s documents on the table.
“I object to any use of contingency voting authority.”
Conrad’s attorney rose.
“The medical filing—”
“Was signed by a doctor paid by Northstar.”
Silence.
Khloe continued.
“The same Northstar whose beneficial ownership appears tied to entities created through Vesper Holdings.”
Vance’s smile disappeared.
Khloe turned toward him.
“And Vesper was structured by your law firm.”
Conrad looked at Vance.
That reaction told Khloe something important.
Conrad had not known she possessed the documents.
Vance had.
He leaned back.
“You are making serious accusations.”
“No.”
Khloe placed a flash drive on the table.
“My dead mother made the accusations.”
Nobody moved.
Gabriel ordered the video displayed.
Evelyn Ashford appeared on the boardroom screen.
Her twelve-year-old warning played before every director.
Conrad’s face slowly lost color.
When the recording ended, Marcus looked at his father.
“You knew she had evidence.”
Conrad whispered.
“I knew she suspected.”
Vance interrupted.
“This proves nothing criminal.”
Khloe nodded.
“You’re right.”
She turned toward the door.
“Which is why Isabella Rossi is downstairs with federal investigators.”
Vance stood so quickly his chair rolled backward.
Conrad stared at Khloe.
“What did you do?”
“I gave Isabella a choice.”
Hours earlier, Khloe had offered Isabella no money.
No immunity.
No promise of freedom.
Only the chance to stop being useful to the people who had manipulated her family.
Isabella had accepted.
She turned over access to her mother’s recording.
And something else.
A ledger Lorenzo Rossi had hidden.
Federal investigators were already reviewing it.
Vance grabbed his phone.
No signal.
Gabriel smiled faintly.
“The building is under evidence preservation protocol.”
Conrad slowly turned toward Vance.
“You told me the ledger was destroyed.”
Vance glared at him.
Khloe heard it.
So did every director.
The first crack had finally opened between the two men.
Then Conrad said the sentence nobody expected.
May you like
“You said Lorenzo’s death solved this.”
The entire boardroom went silent.
