Chapter 11 - Ryan Finally Admits The Vendor Scheme
Ryan’s attorneys began negotiating with investigators.
He eventually admitted creating the first fake vendor with Owen.
The original plan was smaller.
Crestwell had cash-flow problems after a failed expansion.
Ryan convinced himself he would borrow hotel money temporarily through
inflated event invoices and repay it after a major contract closed.
The contract failed.
So he created more vendors.
Then Gregory joined.
The theft expanded.
By the time Emily saw the floral invoice, Ryan’s company depended on the
scheme.
He did not plan the ballroom confrontation in detail.
He did tell Vanessa Emily was dangerous to their future.
He encouraged her to get Emily removed.
Ryan knew Vanessa’s temper.
That mattered.
He had not ordered the slap.
But he had deliberately pointed an angry person at a witness.
Ryan looked at Emily during a formal statement.
“I never thought she’d hit you.”
Emily answered:
“You thought she’d humiliate me enough that nobody would listen.”
He could not deny it.
That was the part she would remember longest.
The scheme required fake vendors.
But the cover-up required something older.
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The belief that a woman carrying a tray could be discredited more easily
than a man wearing a tuxedo.
