Chương 3
Ethan scanned the pages. “I know Redhaven.”
“You approved three of these contracts,” Charles said.
“They were emergency capacity agreements. Our internal fleet was short.”
“Why?”
“Driver attrition. Equipment maintenance. Demand spikes.”
Nora opened the second file.
It contained maintenance reports from Sterling’s Columbus distribution center. Several refrigerated trucks had been removed from service after repeated temperature-control failures. Two weeks later, Redhaven had been hired to cover the routes.
Ethan glanced up. “That proves the need.”
Ava sat across from him. “The maintenance director says his recommendation to repair the units was delayed by operations leadership.”
“That happens. Capital approvals take time.”
“The repair cost was less than one month of Redhaven’s invoices.”
“According to whom?”
“The maintenance director.”
“Who is protecting his own budget.”
Charles slid a single page across the table. “Redhaven’s principal owner is Daniel Hale.”
Ethan did not touch the paper.
Ava watched his breathing change.
Daniel was his older brother.
“He is one of several investors,” Ethan said.
“He owns sixty-two percent,” Nora replied.
“I disclosed the relationship.”
“No disclosure appears in the conflict database,” Charles said.
“I told Martin Kell.”
“Martin left the company fourteen months before the first contract.”
“I told someone.”
“Who?”
Ethan looked toward the video screens as though one of the remote directors might supply a name.
Ava remembered him doing that in their kitchen when bills had gone missing. He would search the room for an object to blame: the mail basket, the cleaner, the unreliable banking app. The truth usually arrived only after every other possibility had been insulted.
“I need access to my email,” he said.
“You will have it through counsel,” Charles replied.
“Counsel?”
“The audit committee retained outside counsel this afternoon.”
“Before speaking to me.”
“The report was detailed.”
“What report?”
Ava slid the third file forward.
It was thinner than the others. On top lay a cover letter signed by Lena Ortiz, Sterling’s regional compliance manager. Beneath it were copies of invoices, internal messages, maintenance requests, and handwritten notes from meetings.
Ethan read the name twice.
“Lena has been trying to destroy me since I reorganized her team.”
“She resigned this morning,” Ava said.
“That is not proof of integrity.”
“No,” Ava agreed. “It is not.”
Her restraint irritated him more than an accusation would have.
“She bypassed reporting lines. She was angry about losing authority. Ask anyone in Columbus.”
“We will.”
“She mishandled confidential records.”
“That will also be reviewed.”
“She sent this to you because she knew who you were.”
Ava’s gaze settled on him. “Lena did not know who I was.”
“How did she reach you?”
“She sent the report to the ethics address.”
“That inbox receives thousands of complaints.”
“It was escalated by the chief compliance officer.”
“Today?”
“Three weeks ago.”
Ethan’s face changed.
Ava saw the instant he understood that the gala had not triggered the inquiry. The inquiry had already existed while he selected a tuxedo, rehearsed his acceptance remarks, and told Madeline that the vice presidency was certain.
“Three weeks,” he said.
Charles folded his hands. “Yes.”
“And you let me come here.”
“The committee needed to verify the documents.”
“You let my name remain in the program.”
“We did not want to alert anyone who might alter records.”
Ethan looked at Ava. “You let me stand out there.”
Her voice lowered. “I removed your appointment from the evening. I did not announce the allegations.”
“You announced enough.”
“You were about to be made vice president.”
“You could have canceled the gala.”
“Eight hundred guests traveled here. Employees were receiving service awards. Partners had flown from overseas. The evening did not belong to you.”
He pushed the folder away. “Or to you?”
Ava’s composure shifted by a fraction. “Especially not to me.”
Charles interrupted before Ethan could answer. “Effective immediately, your access to procurement systems and vendor approvals is suspended. You will remain on paid administrative leave while the review proceeds.”
“You cannot do that without a vote.”
“The executive committee voted at four thirty.”
“Ava voted.”
“She recused herself.”
That surprised him.
He turned toward her. “Why?”
“Because we were married.”
“We are still legally married.”
Charles’s eyebrows lifted.
Ava’s eyes closed for half a second.
The divorce petition had been filed six months earlier. The settlement negotiations had stalled over a condominium neither of them truly wanted and Ethan’s refusal to provide complete financial disclosures. He had told Madeline the divorce was final because final sounded cleaner than pending.
Madeline learned the truth from outside the conference room.
Nora had asked her to wait in the library in case the committee needed to clarify whether she possessed company information. A junior attorney arrived ten minutes later, introduced herself, and asked whether Madeline had received any Sterling documents through Ethan’s personal accounts.
Madeline folded her arms. “Why would I?”
“We are asking several people.”
“Is his wife being asked?”
The attorney hesitated.
Madeline saw the answer before it came.
“They’re not divorced,” she said.
“I cannot discuss private legal matters.”
“That means they’re not.”
The attorney looked toward the conference-room door.
Madeline sat down on the edge of a leather chair. Her black evening gown felt suddenly too tight across her ribs. She pressed a hand against the high slit as if fabric were the problem.
“How not divorced?”
“I genuinely cannot answer that.”
“He said the decree was entered in March.”
The attorney’s expression remained professionally blank, but pity appeared around her eyes.
Madeline looked away.
May you like
Across the library, a catering employee crouched beside a wall outlet and tried to make a floor lamp work. He unplugged it, examined the cord, plugged it back in, then gave up and carried the lamp away. The useless, ordinary struggle held Madeline’s attention longer than it should have.
She had met Ethan at a charity auction in February. He had said his marriage had ended the previous fall and the remaining paperwork was technical. He had shown her an apartment lease in his name, joked about arguing over serving bowls, and described Ava as brilliant in private but paralyzed in public.
