Chapter 4 - Claire's Final Piece of EvidenceClaire had expected Michael to panic.
She had expected Brittany to cry.
What she hadn't expected was for Michael to fight back before noon.
At 11:18 a.m., Ryan called.
"They're moving faster than I thought."
Claire stood beside the floor-to-ceiling window of her hotel suite, watching yellow taxis crawl through Fifth Avenue.
"Tell me."
"Michael just instructed the IT department to trace the source of the email."
Claire smiled faintly.
"He can't."
"Why are you so sure?"
"Because it didn't come from my personal account."
Ryan paused.
"You planned that too?"
"Months ago."
Years of negotiating hostile corporate takeovers had taught Claire one lesson above all others: never rely on a single move.
The email had been sent through a secure legal account created by her attorneys. Every attachment had been copied to an encrypted cloud archive. The originals were stored in three separate locations.
Even if Michael deleted every copy inside Carter Global, the evidence would survive.
Ryan let out a low whistle.
"I almost feel sorry for him."
"You shouldn't."
Another call came in before Claire could answer.
It was David Reynolds, the company's General Counsel.
"Mrs. Carter," he said carefully, "the Board has suspended Michael's executive authority pending a full investigation."
"I assumed they would."
"There is... another issue."
Claire waited.
"The Board wants to know whether these are all the documents you possess."
She looked at the skyline in silence.
"No."
David's voice became noticeably quieter.
"I thought as much."
"There are financial records you haven't seen."
He inhaled sharply.
"What kind of records?"
"Payments."
"To Brittany?"
"And several others."
Silence.
Claire opened a folder on her laptop.
Bank transfers.
Luxury apartment rent.
Private jet invoices.
Jewelry purchases.
Every payment originated from shell companies that ultimately traced back to accounts Michael secretly controlled.
For six months, Claire had suspected her husband's financial reports didn't add up.
She had quietly hired forensic accountants.
What began as a search for missing corporate funds had uncovered something far uglier than an affair.
Michael hadn't merely been cheating.
He had been using company vendors, hidden accounts, and falsified consulting contracts to finance his double life.
"David," Claire said evenly, "what you've seen this morning is only the morality problem."
"And the rest?"
She clicked open another spreadsheet.
"The rest is fraud."
On the other end of the line, David stopped breathing for a moment.
"Do the directors know?"
"They will."
"When?"
Claire glanced at the clock.
It was 12:02 p.m.
"They're having lunch right now."
David frowned.
"Yes."
"So in exactly twenty-eight minutes..."
Claire pressed Send on a second email addressed exclusively to the twelve members of the Board.
"...they'll discover that removing Michael as CEO won't be enough."
The notification disappeared from her screen.
This time, the attachment wasn't photographs.
It was a complete forensic financial report.
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And if the first email had destroyed Michael's reputation...
The second one was about to put his freedom at risk.
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