CHAPTER 6 — THE BOARDROOM
By afternoon, my doctors insisted I remain hospitalized.
I insisted otherwise.
They compromised by placing me in a wheelchair, surrounding me with medical staff, and threatening to return me to surgery if my condition worsened.
Vale Meridian’s headquarters occupied the top floors of a steel-and-glass tower overlooking Manhattan.
When the elevator doors opened, every person in the executive corridor fell silent.
Most had never seen me.
Some did not know Julian Vale had a daughter.
They knew by the way my father walked beside me.
The emergency board meeting had already begun.
Adrian Vale sat at the far end of the table.
He was younger than my father by six years, with the same silver-gray eyes and none of the restraint.
Nathan sat beside him in handcuffs.
A federal officer stood behind his chair.
His attorneys had secured temporary release for the meeting because the disputed proxy could determine control of assets relevant to the criminal case.
Nathan looked at me.
For one second, shame touched his face.
Then ambition replaced it.
Adrian rose.
“Isabella. I’m relieved to see you alive.”
“You should ask for a refund.”
Several board members lowered their eyes.
Adrian smiled.
“You always had your mother’s sense of drama.”
“And you always wanted her shares.”
My father took his seat.
“The proxy is fraudulent.”
Adrian slid a document across the table.
“It carries Isabella’s verified digital signature and biometric authorization.”
I studied the page.
The signature looked perfect.
The biometric stamp had come from my phone.
Nathan must have unlocked it while I was unconscious at Blackthorn Manor using my face and thumb.
“You approved this at 3:16 a.m.,” Adrian said.
“I was in surgery.”
“Then prove you did not authorize it before entering surgery.”
My father’s attorney placed hospital records on the table.
Adrian barely glanced at them.
“The company bylaws do not invalidate a transfer simply because the shareholder later regrets it.”
Nathan leaned forward.
“Isabella wanted me to protect her holdings if anything happened.”
I looked at him.
“You spent four years believing I had no holdings.”
“That was before you finally told me the truth.”
“I never told you.”
His face tightened.
Adrian interrupted.
“The board will vote on temporary leadership until the proxy dispute is resolved.”
He believed he had won.
My father controlled thirty-four percent of the voting shares.
I controlled twenty-three.
Adrian controlled eleven.
With my stolen proxy, his coalition held a majority.
The vote began.
One by one, board members sided with Adrian.
My father remained expressionless.
Nathan watched the numbers rise on the screen.
Adrian needed one final vote.
He smiled at me.
“Your mother built this company with us. I’m sure she would want stability.”
I reached beneath the blanket over my knees and removed a sealed envelope.
“She wanted something else more.”
Adrian’s smile faded.
I handed the envelope to the corporate secretary.
“My mother amended the trust twelve years ago. Any proxy obtained through a spouse becomes invalid if that spouse is charged with violence, coercion, fraud, or financial crimes against the beneficiary.”
Nathan went pale.
The secretary read the provision twice.
Then she announced the result.
My twenty-three percent returned to me.
Adrian had lost.
He stood so violently that his chair struck the wall.
“This is not finished.”
“No,” I said. “Now we vote again.”
“For what?”
I looked around the table.
“To remove Adrian Vale as chief financial officer.”
The motion passed in less than three minutes.
Federal agents entered before he could reach the door.
But when they moved to arrest him, Adrian began laughing.
“You still don’t understand.”
May you like
He pointed at my father.
“Ask Julian where your mother really died.”
