Chapter 5 - The Vote
By nine the next morning, every director of Santana Logistics had gathered inside the glass boardroom on the forty-first floor of our Brickell headquarters.
I had not entered that room since the accident.
The receptionist stared when Marina pushed my chair through the doors.
People stood.
Not because I had trained them to.
Because none of them knew what else to do.
Daniel sat at the far end of the table beside Patricia.
Seeing them together answered one question and created ten more.
I stopped at the head of the table.
“What is she doing here?”
Patricia folded her hands.
“I hold voting authority over the family trust.”
“You held temporary authority while I was hospitalized.”
“The documents say otherwise.”
My attorney, Samuel Price, avoided my eyes.
That told me enough.
I looked around the table.
“Who called this meeting?”
Daniel answered.
“I did.”
“Then end it.”
“No.”
The word landed harder than a shout.
Daniel opened a blue folder.
“Under Section Twelve of the corporate governance agreement, the board may appoint an interim executive chairman when the current chairman is medically unable to perform essential duties.”
I almost smiled.
“You are trying to remove me from my own company.”
“We are trying to protect the company.”
Patricia leaned back in her chair.
“Your judgment has become unstable.”
“Because I asked about missing medical scans?”
“Because you fired a weapon inside your home.”
“An intruder entered my house.”
“A former employee you accused without evidence.”
“He carried a syringe.”
Daniel looked toward the other directors.
“The police have not confirmed what the substance was.”
Marina stood behind me.
I could feel the tension in her hands against the chair handles.
Samuel cleared his throat.
“Eduardo, perhaps a temporary leave would be wise.”
“You are my attorney.”
“I represent the company in this matter.”
I looked at each person around the table.
Men and women whose mortgages, promotions, and fortunes had been built on decisions I made.
Not one of them looked comfortable.
Not one of them looked surprised.
The betrayal had been prepared before I entered the room.
Daniel continued.
“The motion appoints me interim chairman for ninety days.”
“And Patricia?”
“She will retain control of the family voting trust.”
Patricia smiled faintly.
I turned toward Samuel.
“Show me the trust amendment.”
He slid a document across the table.
My signature appeared on the final page.
Another forgery.
This one had been notarized by a man who died two months earlier.
I studied the date.
The amendment had been executed three days before my accident.
A cold understanding moved through me.
This had not begun after the fall.
The fall had been part of it.
Daniel called for the vote.
One hand rose.
Then another.
Then another.
The final count was eight in favor.
Two against.
I had been removed from control of Santana Logistics in less than six minutes.
Patricia stood and adjusted her jacket.
“You should focus on getting well.”
I looked up at her.
“You should focus on finding a criminal defense attorney.”
Her smile disappeared.
Daniel moved closer.
“Security will escort you from the executive floor.”
The humiliation was deliberate.
Employees filled the hallway as two guards approached.
Marina leaned down beside me.
“Do not give them what they want.”
“What do they want?”
“To see you break.”
I straightened in the chair.
Then Sofía’s preschool called.
The director’s voice shook.
“Mr. Santana, Patricia arrived twenty minutes ago.”
“She signed Sofía out.”
May you like
I turned toward Patricia.
She was already gone.
