Chapter 7 - The Boardroom Trap
The draft resignation statement changed everything.
It was polished, corporate, and written as though Imani herself had approved it.
After careful reflection, I have decided to step away from my role as Chief Executive Officer of Richardson Biotech Consulting to focus on personal matters and ensure stability during this important period of growth.
Imani read it twice.
Then a third time.
Patricia stood beside her in stunned silence.
“They wrote your goodbye before the deal closed,” she said.
Adrian nodded.
“The metadata shows Marcus created the first draft twelve days ago.”
“Who else saw it?”
“At least one ValeBridge address and an unknown private account.”
Margaret leaned over the table.
“What was the mechanism supposed to be?”
Adrian clicked open another recovered message.
The plan was brutally simple.
Derek’s divorce filing would allege concealed assets and unstable ownership.
The leak would create press pressure.
ValeBridge would privately tell Sterling that Richardson Biotech’s leadership was compromised.
Marcus would then urge Richardson’s board to appoint an interim CEO “for continuity.”
With Imani temporarily sidelined, Sterling might delay, renegotiate, or reopen the vendor process.
ValeBridge could enter.
Marcus would receive a senior position in the combined operation if ValeBridge eventually acquired part of Richardson Biotech.
Patricia lowered herself into a chair.
“I recruited him.”
Imani looked at her.
“Patricia—”
“No. I brought him here.”
“You did not make him do this.”
“I vouched for him.”
“You also vouched for me.”
Patricia looked up.
Imani continued.
“One bad judgment does not erase every good one.”
Patricia’s eyes softened.
“You should take your own advice.”
Imani understood immediately.
Derek.
She looked away.
At noon, the Richardson Biotech board assembled for an emergency meeting.
Six directors joined in person. Two attended remotely.
Marcus’s chair remained empty.
Imani entered last.
She expected suspicion.
Instead, the directors stood.
Not ceremonially.
Instinctively.
One of them, Denise Parker, a former hospital CEO, came around the table and hugged her.
“We’ve seen the evidence.”
Imani swallowed.
“I’m sorry the company is dealing with this.”
Denise stepped back.
“No. The company is dealing with a betrayal. That distinction matters.”
The meeting lasted three hours.
Adrian presented the forensic timeline.
Margaret explained the divorce posture.
Outside counsel described potential claims against Marcus and any third party that knowingly used stolen information.
Then the board discussed governance.
Imani sat quietly while other people debated whether she should remain CEO during active litigation.
It was one of the most painful experiences of her life.
Not because anyone attacked her.
Because she could not control the conversation.
Finally Denise looked at her.
“Imani, do you want to step aside temporarily?”
Patricia opened her mouth.
Imani raised one hand.
“I’ll answer.”
She looked around the table.
“No.”
Nobody moved.
“I did not breach our systems. I did not pay my husband to steal files. I did not contact a competitor. I did not create false press. I made one mistake: I married someone who eventually decided my success was something he should own.”
Her voice remained steady.
“I will cooperate with every audit. I will disclose everything required. I will recuse myself from decisions where counsel identifies a conflict. But I will not resign because other people committed misconduct around me.”
Denise nodded slowly.
“That’s what I wanted to hear.”
The board voted seven to one to retain Imani as CEO.
The single dissent came from a director who preferred temporary leave until the divorce hearing.
Imani did not resent him.
She understood risk.
By evening, Richardson Biotech issued a public statement confirming Marcus Hale’s suspension and an independent investigation.
No mention of Derek.
No mention of Brooke.
No mention of the affair.
Just facts.
The next morning, ValeBridge’s general counsel contacted Margaret.
They wanted to talk.
Their tone had changed dramatically.
A senior strategist admitted receiving “unsolicited information” from Marcus and Derek but claimed leadership had not authorized its use.
Margaret did not believe all of it.
Neither did Adrian.
But ValeBridge offered to preserve records and cooperate.
Sterling restored confidence in the deal.
The expansion option remained under review, but implementation work began.
Then came Derek’s deposition.
Warren Pike had withdrawn as his counsel after learning Derek had lied about the Northline payment.
Derek arrived with a new attorney, a quiet woman named Teresa Bell.
Unlike Warren, Teresa did not perform.
She listened.
Margaret began gently.
“Mr. Anderson, when did you first learn Richardson Biotech had signed a $450 million contract?”
“The morning after graduation.”
“Before that, what did you believe the company was worth?”
“I didn’t know.”
“Did you ever ask?”
“No.”
“Did you review your wife’s business financial statements?”
“No.”
“Did you attend company events?”
“Sometimes.”
“Name one.”
Derek hesitated.
Margaret waited.
“I don’t remember.”
“Did you provide capital to Richardson Biotech?”
“No.”
“Did you personally guarantee company debt?”
“No.”
“Did you introduce clients?”
“No.”
“Did you work without salary for the company?”
“No.”
Margaret turned a page.
“You described yourself in your divorce petition as having ‘materially supported the creation and growth’ of the company. What did that support consist of?”
Derek’s face tightened.
“I supported the household.”
“Financially?”
“Yes.”
“Your joint records show Ms. Richardson paid approximately fifty-two percent of household expenses during the first two years of the company and sixty-one percent the third year. Do you dispute that?”
Derek looked at Teresa.
She said, “Answer if you can.”
“No.”
Margaret continued.
“Did you call the company cute?”
Derek’s eyes flashed.
“This is ridiculous.”
“Did you?”
“I may have.”
“Did you tell your wife not to let it interfere with her real responsibilities?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Did you tell Brooke Daniels that Ms. Richardson was unemployed?”
Teresa objected to relevance.
Margaret moved on.
Then came the laptop.
“Did you access Ms. Richardson’s computer at approximately 2:13 a.m. while she was in Boston?”
Derek stared at the table.
“Yes.”
“Did you connect a removable drive?”
“Yes.”
“Did you copy files?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To understand what she was hiding.”
“Did you have permission?”
“We were married.”
Margaret stopped.
Imani, sitting behind her, felt the room sharpen.
Margaret repeated the question.
“Did you have permission?”
Derek finally said, “No.”
At the lunch break, Imani stood alone near the courthouse windows.
Adrian approached with two coffees.
“I’m developing a reputation,” he said.
“For what?”
“Showing up when you haven’t eaten.”
She accepted the cup.
“Dangerous habit.”
“How are you?”
“Tired.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
Imani looked at him.
For months, every person around her had needed something.
A decision.
A signature.
A strategy.
Evidence.
Adrian asked simple questions and waited for actual answers.
“I’m sad,” she said.
“About him?”
“About who I was with him.”
Adrian nodded.
“That makes sense.”
“I kept shrinking things so he wouldn’t feel threatened.”
“The company?”
“My excitement. My language. My plans. I’d come home from a meeting with someone I admired and describe it like I went grocery shopping.”
“Why?”
“Because when I sounded proud, he sounded annoyed.”
Adrian looked through the glass toward the city.
“You know the strange thing about people who love you?”
“What?”
“They usually want the full-sized version.”
Imani did not answer.
But later, during the final hour of Derek’s deposition, his new attorney requested a private break.
When they returned, Teresa spoke first.
“My client would like to discuss settlement.”
Margaret closed her binder.
“On what terms?”
Derek looked at Imani.
For the first time since graduation, there was no anger in his face.
Only fear.
“I’ll drop the claim to the company.”
Imani said nothing.
“I’ll sign the divorce.”
Still nothing.
“I just need one thing.”
Margaret’s expression hardened.
“What?”
May you like
Derek swallowed.
“I need Imani to help me keep Brooke from taking my child away.”
