Chapter 6 - The Woman Who Could Destroy RedwoodEmily had never spoken to the press.
By Friday morning, she stood in front of fifteen cameras.
Daniel beside her.
Claire behind them.
Thomas at the edge of the room.
Emily held the ledger.
“We are here because the truth has been hidden for twenty-two years.”
A reporter shouted:
“Are you accusing Redwood Burger Company of fraud?”
Emily looked directly into the cameras.
“Yes.”
Another shouted:
“Are you accusing its chairman?”
“No.”
Emily turned toward Daniel.
“I am accusing the people who used the company while its chairman was kept in the dark.”
The room went silent.
She continued.
“My mother, Claire Carter, discovered financial fraud inside Redwood more than two decades ago.”
Reporters turned.
Cameras flashed.
“My father was separated from her and forced into hiding.”
A murmur spread through the crowd.
“The company has been manipulated by a private network of people who moved money through charitable foundations and shell companies.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“We have provided evidence to federal investigators.”
Emily held up the ledger.
“And this contains names.”
That evening, the story exploded.
By midnight, social media was filled with footage from the press conference.
Some called Emily a hero.
Others called her a liar.
Then a photograph appeared online.
Emily sitting outside East Truman with the old homeless man.
The caption read:
EMPLOYEE FIRED FOR HARASSING HOMELESS MAN WAS PART OF CEO'S FAMILY CONSPIRACY.
Emily stared at the screen.
“They're trying to make me look crazy.”
Daniel nodded.
“They'll attack your credibility.”
“Can we stop them?”
“Not with force.”
“Then what?”
“With facts.”
They traced the leaked photograph.
It had come from a private security firm.
Owned by Jonathan Reed.
Daniel went still.
“So he's the leak.”
“Yes.”
“And he knows where we are.”
“Probably.”
Claire looked at the ledger.
“Jonathan wasn't alone.”
“What do you mean?”
Claire turned a page.
There was a code.
R-14.
Thomas frowned.
“That was the old Redwood board designation.”
Daniel took the ledger.
“And there were fourteen members.”
“Who were they?”
“Lawyers. Investors. Politicians. Executives.”
Emily looked at him.
“Names.”
“I don't remember them all.”
Claire did.
She named them.
Then one name came last.
Daniel went pale.
“No.”
Emily frowned.
“Who?”
Claire answered:
“Vanessa Cole.”
Silence.
Emily stared.
“My manager?”
“She is Evelyn's daughter.”
“I knew that.”
“She has been working inside Redwood to control operations.”
“So she knew why I was fired.”
“Yes.”
Emily looked down.
“And the man I bought the burger for?”
Daniel's face changed.
“The homeless man.”
“What about him?”
“We need to find him.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked at Emily.
“Because I don't believe he was homeless.”
They found him three days later.
His name was not what they thought.
He was Harold Mercer.
Daniel's older brother.
The man officially declared dead twelve years earlier.
Emily stared at the two brothers.
Daniel looked stunned.
“You're alive.”
Harold smiled.
“For now.”
Emily felt dizzy.
“Why were you outside the restaurant?”
Harold looked at her.
“To see whether anyone in this company still had a conscience.”
Emily remembered the burger.
“You knew me?”
“No.”
“You chose my restaurant?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother once told me about you.”
Emily looked at Claire.
“You knew?”
Claire shook her head.
Harold continued.
“I was investigating the board.”
Daniel stared.
“You went undercover.”
“Yes.”
“As homeless?”
“It was the safest way to move around without being recognized.”
Emily laughed incredulously.
“You spent months sitting outside a burger restaurant?”
Harold smiled.
“Only when hungry.”
Then his expression became serious.
“Emily, you need to understand something.”
“What?”
“The people who stole from Redwood don't want money anymore.”
“What do they want?”
“Control.”
“Of the company?”
“Of everything around it.”
He handed Daniel a file.
Inside was a board plan.
A takeover.
Redwood would be forced into bankruptcy.
A private investment group would buy it.
Owned by Evelyn Cole.
Emily stared.
“She's going to steal the company.”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked at the numbers.
“They've been preparing this for years.”
Harold nodded.
“And the only thing stopping them is Daniel's controlling vote.”
Emily looked at Daniel.
“So they tried to ruin you.”
“Yes.”
“And if you lose control?”
“They win.”
Emily closed the file.
“Then we don't let them.”
She looked around the room.
For the first time, everyone understood.
The quiet employee who had been fired over an $8.63 burger was no longer fighting for a job.
May you like
She was fighting for the company that had nearly destroyed her family.
And she was ready to fight in public.
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