Chapter 4 - THE CONDUCT REVIEW
At eight the next morning, I entered Reed Industrial’s boardroom with a bruise forming across my palm from where I had hit Robert.
Appropriate.
The independent directors sat at one side.
Robert at the other.
Rebecca was absent.
Linda absent.
Harrison Cole from Blackmere was not allowed in.
Good.
This was not his company yet.
Naomi sat beside me.
The board chair, Evelyn March, began:
“Daniel, there are public videos showing you striking both parents.”
“Yes.”
Robert looked surprised by how quickly I answered.
Evelyn continued.
“Do you dispute the videos?”
“No.”
“Context?”
“My daughter had visible injuries. She identified Rebecca as the person who hurt her and Robert as the person who instructed Rebecca. Linda grabbed my arm twice while trying to redirect me. I freed myself, then struck her. Robert dismissed Lily’s injuries. I struck him.”
“Were either slap necessary to protect Lily at the moment you delivered it?”
“No.”
Silence.
Robert shifted.
He wanted me defensive.
I wasn’t.
Evelyn asked:
“Police involvement?”
“Yes.”
“Are you charged?”
“Not yet.”
“Child case?”
“Under investigation.”
Then Naomi distributed the timeline.
Conduct meeting scheduled:
4:12 p.m.
Robert’s hold request:
4:18.
Party:
6:00.
Lily injured:
approximately 7:25.
My slaps:
approximately 7:32.
Evelyn looked at Robert.
“Why was an emergency CEO conduct meeting scheduled before the conduct occurred?”
Robert did not blink.
“Daniel had been increasingly volatile.”
“Examples?”
“Hostile communications.”
Naomi slid another file.
“None attached to your meeting request.”
Robert glared.
Then Evelyn asked:
“Was Blackmere present at the party?”
“Harrison was.”
“Why?”
“He’s a friend.”
One director laughed.
Not kindly.
The board did not exonerate me.
Good.
It placed me on temporary paid administrative leave for fourteen days pending:
Police investigation.
Independent review.
Full context of videos.
No board authority stripped.
No shares touched.
COO appointed acting CEO.
Reasonable.
I accepted.
Robert hated that too.
He wanted immediate Cause termination.
I could see it.
He made the motion.
No second.
That mattered.
Then the board froze all Blackmere negotiations until the conduct and process investigation concluded.
Robert finally lost composure.
“That is unnecessary.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“If a potential sale became entangled with an attempt to manufacture Cause against our CEO, it is extremely necessary.”
He said nothing.
After the meeting, I made my first major mistake.
Not the slaps.
Those were obvious.
This one was strategic.
I called Rebecca.
Naomi told me not to.
Detective Ellis told me not to.
I did anyway.
She answered.
“What?”
“What did he promise you?”
Silence.
“Daniel, stop.”
“How much?”
“Go to hell.”
“You hurt a three-year-old for him.”
“She was screaming.”
“What did you do?”
“I grabbed her.”
“Her cheek?”
Silence.
“Rebecca.”
“She wouldn’t stop.”
My blood surged.
“What did you do?”
“I slapped her once.”
There.
Admission.
I should have ended the call.
Instead:
“And Dad told you to.”
She started crying.
“You don’t know what he has over me.”
“What?”
Then I heard another voice.
Robert.
Farther away.
“Hang up.”
The line died.
I had just warned them how much we knew.
Worse:
Rebecca immediately called her lawyer and stopped voluntary cooperation.
Her phone consent was revoked pending warrant process.
Evidence preservation became more complicated.
Detective Ellis was furious.
“You may have cost us speed.”
“I know.”
“Do not contact them again.”
“I won’t.”
I had let rage make me impatient.
Again.
This time there was a cost.
That night Naomi said:
“You keep thinking protection means moving first.”
I stared at the floor.
“My daughter got hurt because people waited.”
“Your daughter got hurt because they chose to hurt her. That does not mean every fast move you make is smart.”
She was right.
I hated it.
Then my temporary replacement called.
“Daniel, I found something in the Blackmere data room.”
“What?”
“A draft amendment to your employment agreement.”
“I never approved one.”
“No.”
“Who uploaded it?”
A pause.
“Robert’s office.”
The draft changed the definition of Cause.
It added:
Any intentional physical assault captured by credible witnesses or recording, whether or not resulting in criminal conviction.
Date created:
Two weeks before the party.
May you like
My father had not only prepared to use violence.
He had tried to rewrite the rules so almost any violence would be enough.
