“I was angry.”
“I was alone after an accident.”
He looked away.
That was when I noticed a faint lipstick mark inside the collar of his shirt.
And suddenly, the laughter I had heard behind him during the phone call made more sense.
“Who were you with?” I asked.
He didn’t answer.
He didn’t need to.
Then his phone started vibrating.
Once.
Then again.
His eyes dropped to the screen.
The color slowly left his face.
“Board counsel?” I asked.
He looked at me.
The internal review had uncovered something else.
Two documents connected to the acquisition carried my signature.
I had never signed them.
Mark sat down slowly.
“Natalie, listen to me.”
For twelve years, I had listened.
Now it was finally his turn.
A few moments later, David called.
I answered on speaker.
“Natalie,” he said, “outside counsel compared the acquisition documents with the originals in your corporate records. Two shareholder consents contain signatures attributed to you. You did not authorize them.”
“No.”
Mark stood.
“This is being misunderstood.”
David continued.
“The acquisition has been suspended. The audit committee has placed Mark on administrative leave while an independent investigation is conducted.”
Mark turned toward me.
“You’re going to destroy everything your father built.”
For years, that sentence would have frightened me.
