Richard's Counterattack
Chapter 13 - Richard's Counterattack
Richard chose a financial newspaper for his first public attack.
The article appeared online at 6:05 a.m. under the headline LUMEN FOUNDER ACCUSED OF USING COMPLIANCE REVIEW TO CONSOLIDATE CONTROL.
Claire read it in bed before sunrise.
The reporter quoted three unnamed sources who described her as volatile, secretive, and obsessed with removing dissenting voices.
One source claimed the failed board vote had been lawful until Claire “produced a last-minute trust arrangement of questionable validity.”
Another suggested the data leak had been manufactured by Tom’s team.
Richard’s statement appeared near the end.
He welcomed regulatory review and denied wrongdoing. He accused Claire of exploiting a marital dispute to seize power from independent directors.
Claire’s phone began vibrating before she finished.
Priya.
“Don’t respond,” she said when Claire answered.
“Good morning to you too.”
“Media statement in twenty minutes. Factual, boring, and approved.”
“Richard called me unstable.”
“He also called a federally imaged server log manufactured. Let him enjoy that choice.”
Claire sat up.
The bedroom around her was half packed. Marcus’s side of the closet stood empty. A strip of pale dust marked where his shoes had been.
“I’m coming in.”
“Eat first.”
“Priya.”
“Toast is not capitulation.”
Claire made toast.
It tasted like cardboard and landed in her stomach with equal grace.
---
By nine, cameras waited outside Lumen’s lobby.
Claire used the garage entrance and took the service elevator with Tom. He carried two coffees and a paper bag of pastries.
“Priya sent me,” he said.
“Of course she did.”
“She has developed a food-based command structure.”
In the boardroom, the remaining directors gathered around the repaired glass table. The cracked section had been replaced, but the new panel reflected light differently.
Richard’s chair remained empty.
Gerald spoke first.
“We need to address the article.”
Priya placed copies of the company statement in front of everyone.
“We address facts. Lumen is cooperating.”
Priya tapped the statement.
“The founder trust is valid. The transfer freeze followed contractual and disclosure requirements.”
Mei looked at Claire.
“Were we manipulated into that vote?”
“Yes,” Claire said.
The direct answer made Gerald shift.
“By Marcus?”
“By Richard, with Marcus’s help.”
Amara crossed her arms.
“Marcus is cooperating with the SEC.”
“He is.”
“Does that mean he’s blaming Richard to save himself?”
“It means his statement can be checked against records.”
Claire did not ask them to trust Marcus. Trust had already cost enough.
At ten fifteen, Ortiz called Priya.
Marcus’s cooperation agreement had been filed in federal court as part of a request to enforce subpoenas against North Gate.
His declaration was now public.
It contradicted Richard’s article line by line.
Marcus admitted the vote had been organized through undisclosed meetings. He stated Richard directed the director outreach. He confirmed the consulting payment and described Richard’s efforts to conceal it.
Most damaging, he swore Claire did not know about the vote, the payment, or the data exports before the ambush.
The financial newspaper updated its story by noon.
At one, the reporter emailed Priya seeking comment on Richard’s “apparent inconsistencies.”
By two, Veridian had placed its chief strategy officer on leave.
An hour later, Richard issued a second statement accusing Marcus of lying for leniency.
By four, a recording surfaced from one of their private calls.
Marcus had preserved it automatically through his home office system. Richard’s voice was clear.
Once she’s out, the company can stop being a monument to Claire and start acting like an asset.
The board listened in silence.
Before anyone spoke, Claire’s communications director appeared at the door with a tablet and a strained expression.
“Employees are asking for a live meeting,” she said. “The article is all over the internal channels.”
Claire looked around the table.
Richard had tried to turn secrecy into proof of instability. Hiding behind another written statement would help him.
“Schedule it for noon.”
Priya leaned toward her.
“You can’t discuss the investigation.”
“I can discuss how we’re operating.”
The staff meeting filled the largest conference hall and streamed to remote employees. Claire stood on a low platform with no slides.
She told them the company had found serious concerns, preserved evidence, and involved outside authorities. She said no employee would be asked to choose a side in her divorce or repeat rumors about executives.
A product manager raised her hand.
“Are our jobs safe?”
“The company is financially stable. No layoffs are planned because of this matter.”
“Did Marcus destroy your laptop?” another employee asked.
A nervous ripple moved through the room.
“Yes,” Claire said.
The direct answer settled them faster than polished language would have.
“Was he trying to delete evidence?”
“That question is under review. I won’t guess because guessing from this position becomes an instruction to other people.”
Tom stood near the back, arms folded. Priya watched the room rather than Claire.
When the meeting ended, employees did not applaud. They returned to desks, client calls, and lunch containers warming in the kitchen microwave.
That ordinary response felt like trust offered in the only form a workplace could give it.
Claire returned to the boardroom.
Gerald took off his glasses.
“I voted based on what he told me.”
Claire looked at him.
“You voted without asking me whether it was true.”
He nodded, shame reddening his neck.
Mei closed her packet.
“We need a formal meeting.”
“For what?” Amara asked.
“To remove Richard.”
Gerald looked toward Claire.
“Will you support it?”
Claire clicked the cap of her silver pen.
“This isn’t about supporting me. It’s about whether a director who concealed conflicts, misled the board, and attacked the company publicly can remain.”
The directors exchanged glances.
No one argued.
The emergency notice went out at 4:38.
Richard’s counterattack had lasted less than eleven hours.
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It had not weakened the case.
It had given the board a reason to act before the SEC forced them to.
