Malik looked at her. "Good morning."
"I want you to know I'm sorry. I should have called upstairs sooner."
He paused. "You were trying to look up the appointment. You could have spoken up when they grabbed me, but I know you didn't order it."
Tears gathered in her eyes. "I froze."
"I noticed," he said, not unkindly.
He walked toward the elevators with Odell. The lobby seemed unchanged. The same marble reflected the lights. The same sculpture stood near the entrance. Only the eyes following him were different. People recognized him now. They knew the name Preston hadn't asked for.
Rachel met them beside the elevator bank.
"Thank you for coming," she said.
Malik nodded. "You said the board had something to discuss."
She handed him the revised term sheet. "Preston is proposing adjustments."
Malik scanned the first page, then the next. His eyes narrowed.
"You want the same money for less equity."
Rachel swallowed. "That's his proposal."
"And fewer board protections."
"Yes."
Odell looked at the page. "He also wants to redirect the capital away from the facilities this deal was designed to stabilize."
Rachel rubbed her forehead. "I know how it looks."
"It looks like your CEO is retaliating against an investor he mistreated," Malik said. "Because that's what it is."
She couldn't argue.
"I'm not accepting these terms," he continued. "And I want the preserved security footage. Not a press summary. The complete incident record."
"Legal says access must be handled through a review and preservation process."
"Then let's use that process. But don't confuse preservation with hiding it."
Rachel met his eyes. She nodded once.
"Take me to the board," Malik said. "I'd like to explain my position without someone deciding I don't belong in the room."
On the fourteenth floor, Preston was waiting at the head of the conference table. His expression tightened when Malik walked in beside Odell and Rachel.
"This meeting wasn't scheduled," Preston said.
Malik placed the revised term sheet on the table. "Neither was my arrest. Apparently plans change here."
A director looked down to hide a startled smile. Preston didn't.
"Watch your tone," he said.
Malik remained standing. "I flew here to finalize an investment. You detained me without cause, sent out a misleading statement, and now you're asking for more control while giving my fund less. I want those facts discussed with the people who are responsible for approving the transaction."
Preston's jaw tightened. "The incident is being reviewed. It is not relevant to commercial terms."
"Then why did you cite it as the reason for changing the terms?" Odell asked.
Silence.
Malik placed his phone on the table and opened the meeting invitation. "Your executive office arranged my arrival. Your name is on this invitation. If you didn't know who I was, you could have asked. If you did know, you were deliberately dishonest with your board. Neither answer supports what happened."
Preston stared at the screen. "My office sends hundreds of invitations."
"Then you should be more careful about deciding who belongs in your own lobby," Malik said.