Chapter 3 - The Boardroom Execution
By 2:45 p.m., the executive boardroom of Prescott Commercial Development on the forty-fifth floor of the Midtown tower was filled with six senior board members.
My father’s former business partners, men in their sixties who had known me since I was a little girl in pigtails, sat around the mahogany table with troubled, somber expressions.
I walked into the boardroom wearing an immaculate black Saint Laurent power suit, my hair swept back in a sleek bun, carrying a leather portfolio.
Arthur Vance walked in behind me, setting three certified forensic audit dockets in front of the board chairman, Harold Miller.
"Caroline, my dear," Harold said, standing up to kiss my cheek. "We received Arthur’s emergency summons. What is this about Nathan? We thought he was boarding a flight to oversee the Toronto joint venture."
"There is no Toronto joint venture, Harold," I said, taking my seat at the head of the conference table.
The room fell dead silent.
Arthur tapped a button on his remote, and the massive projection wall illuminated with high-definition financial ledgers, flight tracking data, and bank routing confirmations.
"At eleven-thirty this morning, Vice President Nathan Prescott boarded a flight to Miami, Florida," Arthur announced in a clear, clinical voice. "Over the past six months, Mr. Prescott has embezzled four hundred and eighty thousand dollars in corporate development reserves, routed through an offshore entity titled Breeze Harbor Holdings."
Gasps rippled across the table.
Harold Miller adjusted his glasses, his face turning an apocalyptic shade of purple as he reviewed the certified wire transfers bearing Nathan’s electronic signature.
"Furthermore," Arthur continued, "Mr. Prescott pledged his unvested corporate stock options as personal collateral for a secondary mortgage on a private residential property in South Beach, in direct violation of Section 14 of the executive corporate charter."
"The boy has lost his mind," muttered Richard Vance, another senior director. "He's defrauded the company and his own wife!"
"Under the corporate bylaws, Section 8, moral turpitude and financial embezzlement grant the majority shareholders immediate power of summary termination for cause," I spoke, my voice ringing out with unyielding authority.
Harold Miller closed the folder, his hands trembling with indignation.
"Do we have a motion?" Harold asked, looking around the table.
"I move to terminate Nathan Prescott as Vice President of Prescott Commercial Development effective immediately," Richard Vance stated firmly. "With immediate forfeiture of all stock options, severance packages, and executive indemnities."
"Seconded," Harold declared.
"All in favor?"
Every single hand at the table went up in unison.
"Motion carried unanimously," Harold announced, signing the termination decree with a gold fountain pen.
He slid the document to me, his eyes filled with profound sympathy and fierce loyalty.
"Caroline, what happens to the four hundred and eighty thousand he stole from the company?"
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"I have already authorized a private bridge loan from my personal estate to cover the corporate shortfall, Harold," I answered with a calm smile. "In exchange, the board assigns all rights of civil recovery and subrogation against Nathan Prescott directly to me."
Harold smiled, shaking his head in admiration. "You are your father's daughter, Caroline. The man won't know what hit him."
