Chapter 9 — They Finally Understood Who He Was.
The board voted at eleven fifty-two.
Ray learned the result from Margaret, who came to find him at the window at twelve oh three.
"Seven to zero," she said. "Immediate suspension of Derek's operational authority pending full audit. He retains the title until the audit concludes and the board votes on a permanent resolution."
"And the governance amendment?" Ray asked.
"Withdrawn from any future agenda," she said. "The legal counsel is drafting the formal notice now."
Ray nodded.
"Good," he said. "Thank you, Margaret."
She looked at him for a moment.
"Six weeks," she said.
"I needed to be certain," he said.
She shook her head slightly — not in disagreement, but in the way of someone who had known a person for a very long time and was still occasionally surprised by them.
She went back into the board room.
Ray walked to the conference room where Bryce had been waiting.
Bryce stood when he came in. He was holding his jacket in front of him with both hands, the way people held things when they needed something to hold.
He looked at Ray.
He said: "You're — "
"Yes," Ray said.
He sat down. He placed the notebook open on the table. He did not make it theatrical. He did not lean forward or use a particular tone of voice. He simply turned the notebook to the relevant pages and put them in front of Bryce.
"I need you to walk me through the commission entries in Q3," he said. "All of them. Accurately."
Bryce sat down slowly.
"I want to be clear," Ray added, "that the legal team will be present for this conversation and that your cooperation, or the absence of it, will be documented. You can take a moment if you need one."
Bryce looked at the pages.
Then he looked at Ray.
"I didn't know it would go this far," he said.
"I believe that," Ray said. "Walk me through the entries."
The conversation lasted an hour and twenty minutes.
Afterward, Ray walked back to the main floor.
At four o'clock, an all-staff communication went out from the company's legal counsel. It confirmed a change in operational leadership structure, described the board's decision in general terms, and stated that further information would follow.
At four fifteen, a second message went out.
This one was from Ray directly.
It was two paragraphs. It confirmed his return to active leadership effective immediately. It thanked the staff for their work during the transition period. It said a full company meeting would be scheduled within the week.
The signature at the bottom read: Ray Colton, Founder and Chairman.
On the second floor, in the corner of the finance team's open-plan area, Nina Okafor read the message twice.
She sat back in her chair.
She thought about a man with a cart and a blue work shirt who had stopped to pick up her papers, who had told her his name was Ray, and who had asked how the job was going.
She sat with that for a long time.