Chapter 4 - THE REVIEW HER FATHER NEVER GOT
Lissa moved the children that night.
Not to a company hotel Oliver controlled.
To serviced apartments paid from her personal account and managed through outside counsel.
Archie resisted until Audrey asked whether the new place had a bathtub.
Then he agreed.
By morning, Lissa had formed an independent special committee.
One outside director, one retired patent judge, and one forensic accountant.
No Oliver.
No Lissa as final decision-maker.
Oliver confronted her in the executive elevator.
“You’re legitimizing a twenty-two-year-old extortion claim.”
“I’m reviewing it.”
“You’re CEO.”
“Exactly.”
He stepped closer.
“If this becomes public before we understand it, every legacy patent could be challenged.”
“So help me understand it.”
Oliver looked away for half a second.
Too long.
The historical audit found that Edmund Constance did pay Archie’s medical bills and later funded education for Archie’s daughter.
That complicated things.
Archie had never told Lissa.
When she confronted him, he answered:
“I told you your father stole my work. I didn’t say he was incapable of guilt.”
Edmund had sent money for years and written letters Archie returned unopened.
“You never read them?”
“No. Clara was dead.”
Lissa could not argue with that.
Then the patent judge found something else.
The disputed settlement had been notarized by Edmund’s outside lawyer.
But the witness initials belonged to a junior employee:
Oliver Dermit.
Lissa stared at the document.
At twenty years old, Oliver had witnessed Archibald Flynn signing an agreement while Archie was medically sedated.
Impossible.
Oliver’s explanation was immediate.
“I witnessed Edmund sign. The form was later completed by counsel.”
“Then why are your initials beside Archie’s signature?”
“Administrative error.”
Again, plausible enough to require proof.
Then the committee found a memo from Edmund five years after the fire.
Subject:
FLYNN OWNERSHIP REVIEW.
I remain concerned the original settlement was executed under emergency conditions. If backup materials establish Archie's authorship beyond dispute, restore attribution and negotiate equity equivalent without destabilizing operations.
Lissa read it slowly.
Her father knew.
He had not fixed it.
But he had intended to.
“Did you ever see this?” she asked Oliver.
“No.”
The forensic archivist checked server routing.
The memo had been forwarded to the operations archive administrator.
User:
O. Dermit.
May you like
Oliver stared at the screen.
And said nothing.
