The Bad Billionaire's Seven Kiss Negotiation novel · Chapter 19 of 24

Chapter 19: The Board

At nine on Monday the boardroom smelled of coffee and floor polish, and every director already had a phone in front of them.

I walked in with Lila on my left and Chantal on my right.

Roland sat at the head of the table in a gray suit, calm and warm.

Conrad sat at his elbow, with a laptop open.

Ansel was not in the room.

He was downstairs in the lobby, where I'd told him to be.

"Joanna," Roland said. "And my girls. Sit."

"I'll stand."

"As you like. We have a short agenda."

He folded his hands.

"Before we vote on the chief executive, I owe the board a disclosure. It concerns one of our shareholders."

The directors looked at their phones.

Some of them had already heard it.

I could tell by the way they didn't look at me.

"Conrad," Roland said, "if you would."

Conrad touched a key on the laptop.

My voice came out of the speakers, thin and clear.

I was twenty-three, it said. I signed it. I knew.

The room went still.

An older man at the far end took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

"Ms. MacAteer was the witness on a sworn statement that destroyed a competitor," Roland said sadly. "She has now confessed that she knew it was false."

"I'd like to hear the rest of that recording," a woman on his left said.

"There is no rest. It's just a short clip."

"There's a full-length original," I said.

Every head turned.

I took my phone out of my coat and held it up.

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