Chapter 10 - Sabrina’s Price
“I won’t help you save your position.”
Gavin sat across from me in Nathan’s office.
“I asked you to help save SwiftFreight.”
“There’s a difference.”
“I know.”
He looked older than he had a week earlier.
Not physically.
Something inside him had changed.
For the first time, Gavin was sitting in a room where his authority meant nothing.
Elaine was there.
Nathan was there.
Rachel was there.
Two independent SwiftFreight directors were there.
No one called him boss.
No one waited for him to make the final decision.
Elaine folded her hands.
“Crestview is willing to consider continuing negotiations.”
Gavin looked up quickly.
“Under conditions.”
His hope vanished.
“What conditions?”
“Independent forensic review.”
“Fine.”
“Replacement of the CFO.”
“Mason is already suspended.”
“Permanent removal if findings support it.”
Gavin nodded.
“Next.”
“Restatement of any misleading financial disclosures.”
He nodded again.
“Independent compliance committee.”
“Fine.”
Elaine paused.
“And you step aside as chief executive during the investigation.”
Gavin froze.
“No.”
Nobody spoke.
He looked around the room.
“This is my company.”
One independent director answered.
“It is also a company carrying billions in obligations and eight thousand employees.”
Gavin’s jaw tightened.
“I didn’t steal the money.”
Rachel spoke.
“That has not been established either way.”
His eyes flashed.
“You think I was involved?”
“We think you signed documents you did not read, failed to disclose a relationship between your CFO and PR director, allowed related-party payments, and submitted financial statements Crestview now considers unreliable.”
“That’s negligence, not theft.”
Elaine nodded.
“Then an independent investigation should establish that.”
Gavin turned toward me.
He finally understood why I had been invited.
“You support this?”
“Yes.”
His expression hardened.
“You want me removed.”
“I want the company protected from anybody who puts ego ahead of controls.”
“That includes me?”
“Yes.”
The answer hurt him.
I could see it.
For years, he believed that whatever happened between us, I would always stand beside him.
Once, I would have.
That Sabrina had walked out of his bedroom carrying three blouses, two pairs of pants, and a recording pen.
Gavin stared at the table.
“What else?”
I spoke before Elaine could.
“Full cooperation with my divorce discovery.”
His head snapped toward me.
“No retaliation against employees who cooperate with investigators.”
He said nothing.
“No destruction of documents.”
Nothing.
“No private settlement designed to bury what happened.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You’re negotiating with me now?”
“No.”
I leaned forward.
“I’m telling you the conditions under which I will not oppose Crestview continuing discussions.”
That sentence finally made him understand something he should have understood years earlier.
I was not powerless.
I had simply stopped using my power because I thought marriage required trust.
Gavin slowly nodded.
“Fine.”
Nathan spoke.
“Say it clearly.”
Gavin looked at me.
“I agree.”
The board voted that afternoon.
Six to two.
Gavin Pierce was temporarily removed as CEO of SwiftFreight.
At 4:03 p.m., the announcement went to senior staff.
May you like
At 4:17, Charlotte called him again.
This time federal investigators were listening.
