Chapter 5 - I Did This Before You Knew I Was There
Helen Ross stepped up beside the stage.
“The board acknowledges the trigger.”
Miles joined her slowly.
“The executive team acknowledges the trigger.”
Garrett shouted from the floor.
“You can’t do this without me.”
Rebecca looked down at him.
“I did this before you knew I was there.”
That sentence finished him.
Not legally.
Not fully.
But publicly.
The man who had just called her nobody stood in the middle of the ballroom while his company acknowledged her as the original money behind the dream.
Garrett backed away from the security manager and ran one hand through his hair.
His bow tie sat crooked.
His face shone with sweat.
The expensive watch on his wrist suddenly looked like costume jewelry.
Board counsel spoke again through Rebecca’s phone.
“Mr. Blackwood, you are placed on immediate administrative leave pending investigation. Mr. Chen will assume interim operational leadership with board oversight.”
Miles looked startled.
Then steadied.
Rebecca looked at him.
“You know the product better than anyone.”
Miles swallowed.
“I’ll protect the team.”
“I know.”
Garrett laughed harshly.
“He’ll fail.”
Rebecca looked back at him.
“Maybe. But he won’t slap an investor at launch.”
Silence.
Then one person near the back exhaled sharply.
Not laughter exactly.
Recognition.
Garrett’s eyes darkened.
For one second, Rebecca thought he might move toward her again.
Security stepped closer.
So did Miles.
So did Helen.
So did three employees from the engineering team.
That was when Rebecca realized something else.
She was not standing alone anymore.
Garrett saw it too.
He lowered his hands.
The board moved quickly after that.
Garrett was escorted to a private room with counsel and security.
Rebecca gave her statement in the ballroom office, still in the champagne-stained gown.
Her cheek was photographed.
The recording was preserved.
Witnesses were named.
Journalists were asked to hold publication until legal counsel issued a statement.
Some agreed.
Some did not.
By midnight, the story had already started moving.
Founder slaps wife at launch party.
Silent investor revealed after public assault.
Hunter Bridge triggers emergency control rights.
Blackwood CEO suspended after ballroom incident.
Garrett’s lawyers released one sentence calling it “a private marital misunderstanding during a stressful evening.”
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Rebecca’s attorney responded with a still image from the launch footage: Garrett’s hand near her face, Rebecca’s cheek swollen red, and two hundred witnesses behind them.
The word misunderstanding disappeared by morning.
