Chapter 13 - The Vote He Couldn’t Buy
We offered Charles a choice.
Cooperate with a temporary independent manager and controlled financing.
Or face an expedited request for court intervention while the lenders moved on their own timetable.
His attorney understood the difference.
Charles understood only that I would be in the room.
The meeting took six hours.
I didn’t attend the first two.
Mara didn’t want me used as the place where every threat landed.
At noon, she called me in.
My father sat at the far end of the table.
Rebecca sat beside him.
Madison stood by the window.
Lauren and Emily waited in the hallway.
Dale wasn’t there.
He had been suspended.
An independent manager would oversee the company’s finances while the claims were resolved.
Charles would step aside from daily control.
My voting rights would be formally recognized.
Any bridge financing would require transparent accounts and written limits on collateral.
“I won’t work under her,” Charles said.
“You won’t be working under me,” I answered. “You’ll be working under the agreement.”
Rebecca let out a bitter laugh.
“You’ve wanted this for years.”
“I wanted a title that matched my job. You made that sound greedy.”
“You could have spoken up.”
I looked at her.
“I did. You called it jealousy.”
Madison turned from the window.
“What happens to the foundation?”
“The accountant will review any company money it received,” Mara said.
“That’s ridiculous.”
“It’s routine,” I said.
She stared at me as if I had slapped her.
In her world, routine questions were humiliations that happened to other people.
Charles pushed the agreement away.
“No.”
His attorney leaned toward him.
They spoke quietly.
Charles shook his head.
Then the door opened.
Lauren stepped inside.
“I gave Mara a statement.”
My father turned.
“What?”
“About the invoices. What I heard.”
“You misunderstood.”
“No.”
Her voice shook.
The word didn’t.
Emily entered behind her.
“I gave her the messages you sent me,” she said. “When you told me to go to Claire’s apartment.”
Rebecca stood.
“Both of you, outside.”
Neither moved.
For the first time in my life, I watched someone refuse my father on my behalf.
Charles looked from one daughter to the next.
Then at me.
The pen lay beside his hand.
May you like
He picked it up.
But before he signed, he said, “You’ll regret finding out what this job really costs.”
