Chapter 3 - The Ghost in the Boardroom
By the time the sun began to rise over the Rockies,
I had already showered and dressed in my most formidable power suit.
It was a deep charcoal grey,
the color of a storm cloud.
I looked at myself in the mirror and didn't recognize the woman staring back.
For five years,
I had played the role of the supportive wife.
I had stepped down from my role as CFO to "focus on my health,"
a move Kenneth had suggested with such faux-concern.
He had told me I was stressed,
that the company was in good hands,
and that I deserved a break.
I realized now that he had been sidelining me so I wouldn't catch his theft.
I walked into the Rollins Global headquarters at 8:45 a.m.
The security guard,
an older man named Bill,
blinked in surprise.
"Ms. Rollins?"
he asked,
using my maiden name by habit.
"We haven't seen you around here in a long time."
"I’m back, Bill,"
I said,
giving him a thin smile.
"And I’m looking for a few people to leave."
I rode the elevator to the top floor in silence.
The doors opened to the executive suite,
where the air felt cold and sterile.
My uncle,
Thomas Rollins,
was waiting in the boardroom with three other senior directors.
They looked tired,
confused,
and worried.
"Sabrina, what is this about?"
Thomas asked,
standing up as I entered.
"Is it true about Kenneth and... that girl at the hospital?"
News travels fast in high society Denver.
"The affair is the least of our concerns, Uncle,"
I said,
placing my folder on the long mahogany table.
"Kenneth has been selling our intellectual property to the Sheng Group."
The room went deathly silent.
The Sheng Group was our most aggressive rival.
"That's impossible,"
one of the directors stammered.
"Kenneth has been the one leading the defense against them."
"He’s been leading us into a trap,"
I corrected,
opening the folder and sliding the contracts across the table.
"He used Maya’s name to set up an offshore account in the Cayman Islands."
"Every time our stock price dropped after a 'leak,' "
"they were buying up shares."
Thomas put on his glasses and began to read.
His face turned a shade of pale that matched the whiteboards on the wall.
"He's been siphoning millions,"
Thomas whispered.
"And he was going to use those shares to vote us all out by the end of the quarter."
I nodded,
my heart hardening with every word.
"But there’s more,"
I said,
my voice trembling for the first time.
"He was drugging me to keep me from having a child."
"He didn't want any heirs complicating the paper trail."
The men in the room looked at me with horror.
Even in the cutthroat world of corporate business,
this was a level of depravity they couldn't fathom.
"What do you want to do, Sabrina?"
Thomas asked,
looking at me with newfound respect.
"You still hold the majority of the family voting shares."
"I want him locked out,"
I said.
"I want his office sealed."
"I want his corporate accounts frozen."
"And I want the police waiting at the hospital when he wakes up."
"As for Maya,"
"I want her assets seized as part of the conspiracy."
"And Justin?"
Thomas asked softly.
"Justin is a victim,"
I said.
"But he needs to see who he really married."
I looked out the window at the city below.
Kenneth thought he had won.
He thought he had paralyzed me with his lies and his "supplements."
But he forgot one thing.
I was a Rollins long before I was his wife.
And a Rollins never lets a traitor keep what they stole.
"Call the police,"
I commanded.
May you like
"And find me the best divorce lawyer in the state."
"One who knows how to draw blood."
