The fourth displayed confidential client strategy documents forwarded to Brooke’s personal email account.
Ethan’s face lost all color.
Brooke gripped the back of her chair.
Harold’s voice dropped very low. “Ethan, is this accurate?”
Ethan shook his head immediately. “No. It’s being taken out of context.”
Sandra turned toward Brooke. “Did you receive restricted client documents?”
Brooke opened her mouth, but no words came out.
I advanced to the next slide.
A photograph appeared on the screen: Brooke wearing sunglasses on a Miami hotel balcony, holding a folder marked with the Hayes Logistics confidential seal. The same weekend she had charged the company for a “regional branding retreat.”
Nolan had recovered the image from an archived social media story Brooke believed had disappeared.
The atmosphere in the room shifted. Not dramatically. Not loudly. But permanently.
Power moved.
Ethan felt it immediately. His eyes snapped toward me.
“Claire,” he said, suddenly gentler. “Can we talk outside?”
I glanced toward the board.
“No.”
His jaw tightened.
I turned to Harold. “Under Article Nine of the Whitmore-Hayes Trust, I am requesting the immediate suspension of Ethan Hayes’ executive authority pending independent investigation. I am also requesting Brooke Ellison be removed from all company systems and escorted off the property.”
Brooke’s eyes widened. “You can’t do that.”
“I already did.”
Her phone buzzed. She glanced down. Whatever appeared on the screen drained the color from her face.
Probably the lockout notification.
