Chapter 6 - The Emergency Board
At 6:30 a.m., NexusCore's board gathered on the forty-first floor of its Midtown headquarters.
Matthew arrived twelve minutes early.
He expected that to matter.
It didn't.
His access badge failed at the executive elevator.
A security guard escorted him upstairs.
Five years earlier, employees used to stand when Matthew entered a room.
That morning, nobody looked at him.
The boardroom doors were closed.
Inside sat six independent directors, Daniel Cho, outside counsel, and two forensic accountants.
Matthew's chair remained empty.
He tried the door.
Locked.
"Mr. Hayes."
The security guard kept his voice polite.
"They will call you."
Matthew stared at him.
"I'm the CEO."
"Yes, sir."
"Open the door."
"I can't do that."
Matthew took out his phone.
No signal.
The boardroom had been switched to secured communications mode.
At 6:44, the door opened.
Elaine Porter, the board's lead independent director, stepped out.
She was sixty-two, former chief executive of a major telecommunications company, and one of the few people Matthew could never charm.
"Come in."
Matthew walked past her.
No one greeted him.
He sat at the head of the table.
Elaine remained standing.
"You'll sit there."
She pointed to a chair along the side wall.
His face reddened.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Until this review is complete, I am chairing the meeting."
"I am chairman."
"Not for today's session."
Daniel Cho looked down at his documents.
Matthew took the side chair.
Elaine began.
"At 12:52 this morning, the board received notice that Sterling Capital had suspended participation in the Axion bridge facility."
Matthew folded his arms.
"This is a family dispute being weaponized against the company."
"No."
Elaine's voice stayed calm.
"This became a corporate matter when our lenders raised concerns regarding executive misconduct, disclosure controls, and possible misuse of corporate funds."
"There has been no misuse."
Daniel finally looked at him.
"We can't establish that."
Matthew turned.
"What does that mean?"
"It means I asked finance to identify every payment to TMG Strategic Advisory."
Silence.
Matthew's face remained still.
Barely.
Elaine noticed.
"So you recognize the name."
"They are consultants."
"For what?"
"Business development."
Daniel opened a spreadsheet.
"Eighteen-point-six million dollars."
"Over two years."
"With no deliverables in our document management system."
"They worked directly with me."
"Who owns the company?"
Matthew hesitated.
Elaine leaned forward.
"That's not a difficult question."
"I would have to check."
Daniel slid a page across the table.
"We checked."
Matthew did not touch it.
"TMG's beneficial ownership disclosure was updated eleven months ago."
Elaine turned the page toward him.
The name printed near the bottom was clear.
LAUREN THORNE.
Matthew stopped breathing.
Daniel continued.
"Payments began six months before Ms. Thorne was hired by NexusCore."
Nobody spoke.
"That's a conflict," one director said.
"It's disclosed."
"Where?"
Matthew opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Elaine turned to outside counsel.
"Continue."
The attorney opened another folder.
"We also identified documents bearing Clare Sterling Hayes's signature approving changes to Northstar Holdings' governance rights."
Matthew leaned back.
"There is nothing irregular about them."
"Mrs. Hayes states she never signed them."
"She would say that."
The room went silent.
Elaine looked at him.
"Why?"
Matthew realized too late what he had said.
He tried to recover.
"She's angry."
Elaine's expression became colder.
"She is in a hospital."
Matthew looked toward the windows.
"Because she broke a vase during an argument."
No one moved.
Then outside counsel placed a sealed evidence notice on the table.
"The police have informed Mrs. Hayes's attorneys that video may exist of the incident."
For the first time all morning, Matthew looked genuinely terrified.
Elaine watched him.
"Anything you want to revise?"
He stood.
"This meeting is over."
"No."
Elaine pressed a button on the conference phone.
"Effective immediately, your operational authority is suspended pending investigation."
Matthew stared at her.
"You can't do that."
The board's secretary slid a resolution forward.
The vote was already recorded.
Six to zero.
May you like
Elaine spoke quietly.
"We just did."
