Page 173 of Between Passion and Revenge: Part Two

“Now, while I know you may be sitting here wondering why I’ve commandeered the meeting Zane seems to have called, I want to provide some insight before we get to the vote.”

Jaime murmurs something to Ralph, so I click my tongue like a schoolteacher.

“Gentlemen,” I croon. “I promise, this will only take a few minutes of your time. Then you’ll be able to go about your day as you please.”

I smile like a shark scenting blood in the water. They lean away from each other.

“Now,” I say. “I know we’re all here to determine my fitness as CEO of Orisun Technologies, and while I could say I’m hurt by the upcoming vote, I’m not. This is business, after all.”

Trance picks up the packet in front of him, and I use that opportunity to start my speech.

“We’re here to discuss the Keystone Financial acquisition we previously approved as a board and discuss my order to halt the completion of the sale. Zane,” I say, pointing to my business partner, who looks florid, “thinks we should not only move forward, but also accelerate the timeline. I believe the opposite is in the best interests of the company. This brings us to now: where Zane has called a vote of no-confidence in my ability to effectively run this company.”

I lock eyes with each person at the table, ending with Zane.

“The companyIbuilt. The company that is my vision, my blood, sweat, and tears.” I let the words land, and Zane rolls his eyes.

“No one here is suggesting you haven’t put in a Herculean amount of work, Liv. The issue at hand is your ability to run this company with all the…changes you’ve experienced lately. These events are clouding your judgment.”

He says this with such fake sympathy, I almost want to laugh, but I restrain myself.

“Let’s talk about judgment, shall we? Gentlemen, if you’ll please turn to the second page of the packet in front of you,” I say, pausing as they all look at each other and slowly turn the pages. Trance is the first person to speak up.

“What the hell? Is this?—”

“Documentation showing how Keystone Financial funds human trafficking and the drug and arms trade? Yes, it is,” I say placidly. Trance’s gaze snaps up to me.

“How’d you get this information?” he asks, blinking fast.

“I did my research and looked past the things they wanted us to see,” I say, locking eyes with Zane, who blanches. “I looked past the thingsyouwanted me to see, Zane.”

I look around the room. Trance looks beyond upset, and Jaime and Ralph share similarly horrified looks.

“How do we know this is factual?” Ralph says, looking at me hard and then slowly turning to face Zane.

“Great question, Ralph,” I say, and Melissa appears at my elbow with a stack of red envelopes. She hands one to me and then moves around the room to place one in front of each member.

“Gentlemen, inside you’ll find a 68-page dossier cross-referencing Keystone Financial’s shadow subsidiaries with shell corporations involved in laundering cartel funds and trafficking routes between Morocco, Portugal, and the Port of Houston. We’ve included offshore banking data, proxy shareholder names, and encrypted chat logs extracted from a corruptedinternal server leak,” I say while Melissa hands out the proof. When she’s done, I nod at her.

“I had the information cross-checked by a forensic accounting firm to verify the findings,” Melissa says, her back straight. “Their reports are attached as well.”

“Well, that solves that,” Trance says, throwing his folder on the table in disgust. “If even a quarter of this is true, I’m out.”

Ralph and Jaime share a look before giving me their attention.

“We must delay the vote while we investigate this matter,” Jaime says. I splay my hands out like that Oprah meme.

“Of course,” I say. “But this issue isn’t even the most pressing one. The most critical development has to do with Zane Gibson.”

I have everyone’s attention now.

“Zane,” I say, leaning forward on the table and resting my weight on my palms. “Please explain to the board why $6.2 million worth of grants earmarked for several of the organizations we work with never made it to their accounts? Can you further explain how this money was owed to them, but they had no clue the funds even existed?”

Silence falls over the room.

“Can you further explain how these bank statements—” I slide papers across the table at him. “These IP logs—” I slide another stack. “And these signed memos and invoices to companies that ‘don’t exist’ all connect to you?”

I slide over the last stack of papers and wait.