Chapter 5 - “I KNOW” WASN’T THE SAME AS “I’LL DO IT.”
I wanted Marcus destroyed.
My attorney stopped me.
“Read only what the evidence says.”
Marcus’s message was ugly.
Nora’s response was worse.
But neither explicitly said she would secretly medicate me to influence the vote.
Then Nora finally gave a fuller account.
She said Marcus knew I had insomnia.
He knew she sometimes made me herbal tea.
He repeatedly encouraged her to make me rest before the Thursday meeting.
But according to Nora, he did not know she had medication.
“Then why did you do it?”
She cried.
“Because I was scared you were going to collapse.”
“On the exact night before a vote Marcus wanted me to miss?”
“I knew the timing.”
That admission hurt.
She claimed two motives had become tangled.
She wanted me to sleep.
And she knew Marcus would benefit if I missed the meeting.
She convinced herself both outcomes were acceptable.
Testing confirmed the vial contained prescription sedative medication.
The amount remaining could not tell investigators exactly how much had been placed into each earlier drink.
My medical records showed no known poisoning event.
That didn’t make Nora’s actions safe or acceptable.
Then my assistant found another fact.
The board vote I missed had not finalized the acquisition.
It merely authorized deeper negotiations.
Marcus hadn’t secretly stolen my company in one morning.
Reality was less dramatic.
But the trust was still gone.
Then I received a copy of an email Nora sent Marcus afterward.
ETHAN SLEPT THROUGH IT. PLEASE DON’T MAKE ME REGRET THIS.
Marcus replied:
May you like
THEN DELETE OUR MESSAGES.
For the first time, the business connection stopped looking accidental.
