He wasn't in the room.
That was the strategic decision, made with Legal on Saturday afternoon and confirmed Sunday morning. Appearing at a shareholder consultation called specifically to question his judgment would look defensive. The statement had released. The trust documentation had been delivered. The counter-narrative was already built.
He let the documentation speak.
He let Damien represent the company's interests in the room.
He let Riven do whatever Riven had decided to do.
And he sat in his office on a Monday evening and waited.
Damien reported at eight-fifteen.
Not by phone. In person, which meant the news was either better or worse than a call could contain.
He came in, sat down, placed his tablet on the desk.
"The consultation lasted forty-seven minutes," he said. "Hale opened with the governance narrative. Infrastructure division decision-making, conflict of interest, the CEO's personal relationship with a direct report creating a systemic risk to objectivity."
