“You should see this,” I told Sarah.
On screen, Michael strutted to the head of the table, clearly ready to damage control. But before he could speak, his managing partner stood up.
“Would anyone care to explain?” The partner held up his phone. “Why our biggest client dropped us without warning? And why said client happens to be run by Michael’s sister?”
The room erupted.
Michael’s face went from confident to panicked in seconds.
“Losing Neuroch means a 40% drop in annual revenue,” the partner continued. “And their new public profile would have doubled our fees.”
“I can fix this,” Michael stammered. “Alexandra’s just… she’s playing games. I’ll talk to her.”
“Like you talked to her three years ago?” a voice came from the door.
Everyone turned to see James Chen, my head of strategic partnerships, walking in.
“When you tried to steal her initial investors?”
Michael’s face went white.
“How did you—”
“We have the emails, Michael.” James placed a folder on the table. “Your attempts to discredit her to venture capital firms. Your calls to potential clients, warning them away. Very thorough paper trail.”
I watched Michael sink into his chair as James continued.
“Neuroch Solutions isn’t just terminating contracts. We’re filing formal complaints with the SEC about your firm’s attempts at market manipulation.”
Sarah whistled softly.
“That’s going to leave a mark.”
“He earned it,” I replied, thinking of all the times Michael had tried to sabotage my company’s growth. “Actions have consequences.”
My office door opened, and Maya, my general counsel, entered with another stack of documents.
“Your parents’ financial records, as requested. You were right. They’re leveraged to the hilt. The estate, the cars, everything’s mortgaged through Bennett Financial.”
“Michael’s been handling their investments,” I noted, scanning the papers. “Moving money around to hide the holes.”
“Classic pyramid scheme,” Maya confirmed. “Using new client funds to cover family losses. If the SEC investigates his firm, they’d lose everything.”
I leaned back, watching my father still sitting in his car below.
“Unless someone steps in to help.”
Sarah raised an eyebrow.
“You’re not seriously considering…”
“Family’s complicated,” I interrupted, pulling up another file. “But timing is everything.”