Every single board member raised their hand, their faces grim and desperate.

“Opposed?” Arthur asked, looking at Harrison.

Harrison did not raise his hand.

He just stared at the floor, his shoulders slumped as if the weight of the ceiling had landed on him.

“The motion carries,” Arthur said, his voice flat and final.

“You cowards!” Patricia gasped, a sound of pure betrayal.

She turned her venomous gaze from the board members to me.

“You think you’ve won, Claire?” she hissed, stepping toward me.

The officer tried to pull her back toward the door, but she planted her heels into the carpet.

“Let me go!” she yelled at the officer, twisting her wrists in the metal cuffs.

She reached into her deep coat pocket with her bound hands, struggling against the short chain.

“Officer, she’s reaching for something,” Elena warned, stepping in front of me to block her.

Patricia pulled out a folded piece of heavy parchment paper.

She threw it onto the polished wood of the table.

“Open it, Claire,” Patricia sneered, her eyes wide.

Elena reached out, snatched the paper, and unfolded it under her phone’s flashlight.