his phone.
His expression transformed almost instantly.
Confusion.
Disbelief.
Then sheer terror.
He looked at me.
“Evelyn… Carter?”
Diane dropped her champagne glass.
Grant’s smirk disappeared.
And Rachel whispered my name as though realizing she barely knew her own mother.
PART 2
Charles read the email twice.
Then once more.
“What does it say?” Diane demanded.
He remained silent.
Grant snatched his father’s phone.
Meridian’s chief legal officer had sent the email at 6:03 p.m.
Effective immediately, Charles Whitmore was placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation into procurement irregularities, conflicts of interest, and misuse of company resources.
One additional line appeared at the bottom:
Executive Chair Evelyn Carter has requested full preservation of all records.
Grant glanced between the screen and me.
“Executive Chair?”
I retrieved my gloves from my purse.
“Yes.”
Charles finally spoke.
“You own Meridian?”
“Seventy-eight percent.”
Everyone froze.
Rachel stared.
“You told
