Chapter 17 - The Boardroom WarMarcus could not take control of Blake Meridian with paper certificates.
Corporate ownership did not work like an old movie.
Ethan knew that.
Helen knew that.
Marcus knew it too.
Which meant the certificates were not the real target.
The safe contained something else.
At 7:00 the next morning, Blake Meridian’s board convened again.
Three directors appeared remotely.
Two wanted Ethan temporarily removed as chief voting trustee until the family scandal settled.
One openly blamed him.
“You knew about Marcus’s financial misconduct.”
“I learned about it after the mountain.”
“Your father knew.”
“My father is dead.”
“His estate controls this company through you.”
Ethan stared across the table.
“No. I control the shares because he designed it that way.”
The director leaned forward.
“And that design caused your sister to attempt your murder.”
The room went silent.
Ethan almost defended Victor.
Then stopped.
“Maybe.”
Several heads lifted.
Ethan continued.
“My father made decisions based on secrecy and control. Some protected this company. Some damaged my family.”
He looked around the table.
“I’m not repeating them.”
He ordered an independent forensic investigation of every Northstar-era transaction.
No privileged internal review.
No quiet settlement.
Full disclosure to regulators if wrongdoing appeared.
The room erupted.
“You’ll destroy valuation.”
“Maybe.”
“Employees could lose jobs.”
“Then we protect employees instead of lies.”
“You cannot make that decision emotionally.”
Ethan looked toward the windows.
“My family tried making decisions without emotion. That didn’t go particularly well.”
The motion passed narrowly because Ethan still held voting control.
That afternoon, federal investigators contacted Blake Meridian.
Marcus’s records suggested possible wire fraud, money laundering and historic public-corruption violations.
Some limitations periods had expired.
Others had not.
The company’s future became uncertain.
But for the first time, Ethan felt as though uncertainty was cleaner than protection.
Then Marcus made his move.
A major business journalist received selected Northstar documents.
The files showed Victor Blake approving questionable consulting payments.
They also showed Nia authorizing transfers.
Nothing showed Marcus’s manipulation.
The story went live at 3:17 p.m.
Blake Meridian’s lenders called by 3:20.
By 4:00, partners suspended negotiations.
By 5:15, one board member demanded Ethan resign.
Marcus had found his leverage.
At 6:03, Ethan received a text from an unknown number.
Your father built the company on lies. I can destroy the rest before breakfast.
Ethan replied.
What do you want?
The answer arrived instantly.
What Victor owed me.
Money?
A seat.
Ethan understood.
Marcus still believed status mattered more than freedom.
You’re wanted for attempted murder conspiracy.
Nia cut the rope.
You planned it.
Prove it.
Ethan looked at Claire.
She read over his shoulder.
“Don’t engage.”
“He wants access.”
“To what?”
“Blake Meridian.”
Claire shook her head.
“He’s delusional.”
“No. He thinks I’m desperate enough to trade.”
Ethan typed.
Meet me.
Claire grabbed the phone.
“No.”
Ethan looked at her.
“He’s been running because we chase him. Let him believe he can negotiate.”
“We have police for this.”
“We use them.”
Claire studied him.
“You’re thinking like your father.”
Ethan froze.
She continued.
“Secret meeting. Private solution. Protect the company.”
The accusation landed.
He deleted the message before sending.
“You’re right.”
Medina developed the plan instead.
She would answer through Ethan under supervision.
Marcus demanded immunity was impossible.
They offered something smaller: prosecutors would be informed of cooperation if he surrendered the documents and provided evidence about Victor’s financial misconduct.
Marcus rejected it.
Then he sent a photograph.
Victor’s mountain-house safe stood open.
Inside, one shelf was empty.
On another shelf lay a framed photograph of Nia and Ethan as children.
Marcus had placed a knife across it.
The caption read:
Ask your sister what she hid here.
Ethan called Nia through her attorney.
“What’s in Dad’s mountain safe?”
Silence.
“Nia.”
“I put something there six years ago.”
“What?”
“Letters.”
“From Marcus?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of letters?”
“Proof.”
“Of what?”
“That he was blackmailing Dad before the $8.7 million disappeared.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“Because the letters proved I knew Marcus was threatening him.”
“When?”
“Years before I admitted it.”
“So they make you look complicit.”
“Yes.”
“And Marcus has them now.”
“Yes.”
Ethan rubbed his forehead.
“Why keep them?”
Nia whispered, “Because part of me always knew I might need proof against him.”
“Then why stay?”
Her answer was barely audible.
“Because another part of me wanted everything he said to be true.”
Ethan looked at Claire.
The case against Marcus had just become stronger.
If they could recover those letters.
Then Nia added one more thing.
“There was something else in the safe.”
“What?”
“A key.”
“To what?”
Nia looked at the guard, then back at Ethan.
“Dad’s private deposit box.”
“Where?”
“Not a bank.”
Ethan waited.
Nia swallowed.
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“At the summit lodge.”
The same lodge from which Ethan had almost fallen.
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