Chapter Seventy Two

With a loud click, the boardroom doors slammed shut behind Damian.

Every chair was occupied. Calm and confident, Victor Knight sat at the head of the table, a substantial document folder resting in front of him. Although none of them appeared inclined to defy him, the board members appeared uncomfortable.

Damian immediately noticed the folder.

"What have you said to them?" He questioned.

A faint grin appeared on Victor's face. "What your father ought to have admitted years ago," he replied.

A few minutes later, Emily, Sophia, Ryan, and Thomas entered the boardroom. Thomas' presence immediately wiped the smile off Victor's face.

Victor spoke sharply, "I didn't ask you to invite all these people."

"Neither was I asked to witness you rewriting my father's history," Damian answered. "Still, here we are."

Victor moved the copies of the contentious statement toward the board members after opening the folder.

"Victor disclosed that his brother acknowledged manipulating corporate payments and hiding transactions via Carter Holdings." "Damian has been blaming me for his father's shame for years. Now he wants to use these incomplete records to do more harm to the company."

The first page was looked at by a board member. "The ramifications are grave if this assertion is true," one of them said.

"It's real," Victor said.

Damian stood still. "Then show the original," he said.

Victor's eyes tightened. "You are not in a position to be making any demands."

Damian responded, "I am the company's chief executive officer." "And you're asking the board to evaluate me based on a document that you won't corroborate."

"It was signed by your dad," Victor said as he knocked on the table.

Thomas said, "No. The statement I was aware of identified you as the person he believed to be behind the financial scam."

Victor turned around to face him. "You were gone for years. Do you sincerely think this board will put their faith in someone who shirked his duties? "

"I expect them to examine the evidence," Thomas stated. I'll bear witness to what I saw and what I was told to do. I won't claim that I saw the deaths, but I also won't keep the truth about that evening hidden,” he added.

A moment of strained quiet followed.

Victor looked in the direction of the board chair. "This is exactly what's at stake. Damian has allowed private grievances to interfere with corporate governance by bringing a dishonored former employee and his personal acquaintances into a private discussion," he said.

"Let's discuss governance now," Sophia said as she laid the remaining financial documents on the table. "We are demanding an impartial forensic investigation and the preservation of all pertinent accounts since these documents demonstrate funds passing via firms linked to your agency."

Victor did not touch the documents.

"Those documents are unfinished," he stated. "There was a possibility that they had been meddled with."

"Then you shouldn't object to an unbiased inspection," Emily answered.

He stared at her and said, "Miss Carter, you lack authority here."

"My parents were looking into the financial agreements your corporations were engaged in before they died," Emily said. "You can challenge my authority in this space, but you can't deny their right to look for the truth," she added.

Victor leaned back in his chair.

"Your parents were not the innocent people you want everyone to believe they were," he said.

Damian's chair scratched the ground as he got up. "Choose your next words carefully," Damian said as he was staring at Victor.

"Or what?" Will you intimidate your own uncle in front of the board? Do you want them to put their confidence in that sort of leadership?” Victor said.

Damian refrained from approaching. He wished for him to get angry. He hoped the board would observe an unstable executive molded by historical family scars.

The trap was visible to Emily.

"Don't give him what he desires," she murmured to Damian.

He slowly took his seat after giving her a quick glance.

Victor was once again self-assured.

He expressed his gratitude. "I now move that the board suspend Damian as CEO while it looks into his unauthorized use of confidential company information," he said.

Several board members exchanged anxious looks.

A hand was raised by the chairman. "I must know if the statement you offered is the original one before we cast our votes, Mr. Knight."

Victor paused and said, "It's a genuine reproduction."

"Certified by who?" the chair questioned.

Victor held his pen more tightly with his fingers. "The original is maintained in a secure location," he said.

"Then make sure it is checked," the chairman said. "A decision of this magnitude cannot be taken based on a document whose legitimacy is questioned."

Victor appeared genuinely disturbed for the first time.

Damian moved forward and said, "You wanted this conference to ruin my reputation. Now the board is asking the same question I did when I came in."

Victor shut the folder.

"Do you believe you've won?" he asked in a low voice. "You have no notion of what your father left behind," he replied.

Damian's expression became more serious as he said, "Tell us then,"

Emily was facing Victor.

"Find out why his records contain her name," Victor said.

Emily noticed the room's attention shift to her. Sophia immediately walked closer to her, as Ryan became tense.

"Emily will not be used to distract this board," Sophia declared.

"I'm not bothering anyone," Victor answered. "I'm just telling you that her father was involved in affairs she is ignorant of."

Emily stared at him for a while. "Submit any proof you have against my father to the police. Quit concealing yourself behind a claim you won't verify," she said.

The board chair decided to put Damian's suspension to a vote.

Hands began to lift as the chamber fell quiet.

One.

Two.

Three.

Damian remained motionless. Victor's hold on Knight Global was fading, and he became more sure that the vote would go his way.

Following that, the assistant of the chair approached him and whispered in his ear.

The chair's demeanor shifted immediately.

"We have confirmation that the statement circulated by Mr. Knight includes a transaction dated after Damian's father's death," he said.

The room filled with whispers.

Victor abruptly rose to his feet. "That doesn't establish anything."

"It demonstrates that the document needs to be looked into right away," the chairman answered. "The ballot is put on hold until it can be verified."

Slowly, Damian ascended.

He said, "You tried to kill my father with a bogus accusation. You've now introduced that same lie to this space.”

Despite his pallor, Victor's stare remained fixed on Emily.

"Be mindful of what you try to discover." "The truth about your parents may not leave you with the family you think you had," he warned her.

Emily felt Ryan move beside her, but she stayed focused on Victor.

"Then let the truth be out," she declared.

Victor gathered his documents with trembling hands and walked to the door.

He leaned in near enough to Damian that only he could hear him as he passed him.

"Your father wasn't the only person who signed away someone's future."

Then he left the boardroom

As Damian watched the door close, he realized that Victor had just made a mistake that he couldn't easily undo.

He had threatened Emily in front of witnesses.

Now, the board had cause to examine him.