Chapter 6 - The Gala Plan
The document was called a controller certification.
Routine language.
Quarterly lender package.
Representations that vendor payments were valid.
That sponsor equity was accurately stated.
That internal controls had been followed.
Mason planned to put it in front of Claire at the gala.
Not in a conference room.
At a social table.
He would say the auditors were overreacting.
That the board needed one signature to calm lenders.
That Claire had already approved the underlying transactions.
And if she refused?
Brooke answered.
“Diane said refusal would make you look unstable.”
Claire almost laughed.
“Because pregnant women are famously irrational.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You keep saying that.”
Brooke cried harder.
Claire felt no sympathy yet.
“What exactly did you do?”
Silence.
Then Brooke said, “I created Northstar’s onboarding file.”
“Did you own it?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
“I don’t know.”
“That is not believable.”
“Mason said it was a special-purpose vendor.”
“Who received the money?”
“I don’t know all of it.”
“Who did you think received it?”
Brooke swallowed.
“Larkspur.”
“And you knew Larkspur brought money back into projects.”
“Yes.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“You knew it was recycled.”
“I knew it was aggressive.”
“That is what people say when they don’t want to say fraud.”
Brooke started crying again.
Priya interrupted.
“Ms. Ellis, if you are considering cooperation, you need your own counsel.”
“I know.”
“Then stop giving partial admissions to my client.”
Brooke took a breath.
“There’s more.”
Claire almost groaned.
“What?”
“Mason copied your signature from an old refinancing packet.”
“I know.”
Brooke went silent.
“You know?”
“Yes.”
“He said you agreed.”
“He lied.”
“I know that now.”
“Why?”
“Because he showed me your so-called separation agreement.”
Claire frowned.
“What separation agreement?”
Brooke emailed it to Priya.
The document claimed Claire and Mason had privately agreed to divorce after Lily’s birth.
Claire would resign from Calder Rowe.
Mason would keep the condo.
Claire would receive cash and waive claims related to company matters.
The signature looked like hers.
Again.
A paper Claire.
A paper marriage.
Claire whispered, “He showed you this?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Four months ago.”
“So you thought our marriage was over.”
Brooke did not answer.
“That does not excuse sleeping with him.”
“I know.”
“Good.”
Claire stared at the false agreement.
Mason had not merely lied to his wife about Brooke.
He had lied to Brooke about his wife.
Again, that did not erase Brooke’s choices.
It changed the architecture.
“What is he planning Saturday?”
Brooke said, “Diane hired a crisis firm.”
“For what?”
“If the audit leaks, they release a statement that you acted without authorization while suffering pregnancy-related stress.”
Claire’s vision blurred.
“What?”
“They have draft language.”
Priya asked for it.
Brooke sent screenshots.
The statement described Claire as a “valued employee experiencing a difficult medical period” whose actions were under review.
It said Mason had discovered irregularities and reported them.
He was preparing to become the whistleblower against her.
Claire put her phone down.
The room swayed.
Susan grabbed her arm.
“Breathe.”
“I am.”
“No, you’re not.”
Claire inhaled slowly.
Lily moved.
Alive.
Present.
More important than Calder Rowe.
More important than Mason.
Priya’s voice came through the speaker.
“You do not have to attend the gala.”
Claire looked at the draft statement.
“Yes, I do.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because you are not an undercover agent. You are pregnant and medically vulnerable.”
Claire almost smiled.
“Thank you for the reminder.”
“I mean it.”
“So do I.”
“Then why go?”
Claire looked at the false separation agreement.
“Because Mason thinks Saturday is where he finishes the story.”
Priya was silent.
Claire continued.
“I want him to believe that until the people investigating him are ready.”
Priya said, “That decision belongs to investigators, not to revenge.”
“Agreed.”
And that was the difference.
Claire did not plan a trap.
She agreed to cooperate with one.
Federal investigators had entered after the independent audit uncovered potential bank and wire fraud involving federally insured lenders.
The audit committee referred the matter.
Agents began working quietly with Calder Rowe’s outside counsel.
The gala was not necessary for charges.
But Mason was expected to bring the certification.
If he pressured Claire to sign or attempted to seize preserved evidence, it could become additional proof of obstruction and coercion.
Claire’s doctor hated the idea.
“You are not a law-enforcement instrument,” Dr. Hayes said.
“I know.”
“Your blood pressure was 150 over 96 yesterday.”
“I know.”
“If you feel contractions, dizziness, pain, anything—you leave.”
“I will.”
“You wear flat shoes.”
Claire frowned.
“Fine.”
“No heroics.”
Claire promised.
She meant it.
The kick would prove she had not predicted everything.
----------------------------------------
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