Chapter 8 - The Rebuttal
Nora stepped forward to the front of the boardroom, completely unbothered by Victoria's glaring eyes. She opened her leather portfolio and projected a sleek digital presentation onto the main screen.
"Members of the board," Nora began, her tone measured, professional, and absolute. "Over the past thirty days under my management, Harbor & Ash has achieved the highest monthly gross revenue in its ten-year history."
A bar chart flashed onto the screen, showing a massive sixty percent increase in net profits.
The board members leaned forward, their eyebrows raising in surprise.
"By eliminating Melissa Grant's fraudulent vendor contracts," Nora explained smoothly, "we reduced inventory waste by twenty-four percent. By implementing the employee childcare program, staff turnover fell to zero percent, saving the restaurant over forty thousand dollars in monthly recruitment and training costs."
She flipped to the next slide, displaying five glowing reviews from top national food critics and corporate event organizers.
"Harbor & Ash is currently booked solid for private banquets for the next seven months," Nora stated firmly, looking directly at the board members. "And our operational costs are at an all-time low."
She then pulled a sleek flash drive from her pocket and plugged it into the podium.
"Furthermore," Nora added, her voice darkening slightly as she looked at Victoria. "While reviewing the legacy financial records left behind by Melissa Grant, I uncovered a secondary paper trail."
Victoria’s face suddenly went pale. "What paper trail?"
"A paper trail showing that twenty percent of the embezzled funds from Harbor & Ash were kicked back directly into a private shell account owned by Victoria Calloway," Nora revealed, displaying the bank transfer records on the giant screen for the entire room to see.
Gasps echoed across the boardroom.
May you like
Everett stood up slowly, his towering presence dominating the entire room as he looked down at his sister.
"You didn't call this vote because you cared about company assets, Victoria," Everett said coldly. "You called this vote because you knew Nora was about to expose your financial collusion with Melissa Grant."
