Chapter 6 - The Boardroom Door
At nine the next morning, my father entered the boardroom flanked by Vanessa and the chief financial officer, Gregory Stone.
I was already seated beside Nina and Samuel.
His smile vanished.
"What is this?"
Nina slid a notice across the table.
"Formal notice of Claire's voting ownership, with supporting documents."
Vanessa snatched up the first page.
"That's impossible."
Dad read the number once.
Then again.
Forty-one percent.
"Mother wouldn't do this," he whispered.
"She did," I replied.
The two outside directors, Eleanor Price and Martin Keene, looked stunned but not entirely surprised.
Samuel presented the notarized codicil, transfer documentation, and registry instructions.
Dad slapped the pages down.
"Forgery."
"Then we'll have them independently examined," Nina said.
"That's your right."
He pointed at me.
"You planned this wedding stunt to steal my company."
I felt my pulse hammering.
"I didn't ask you to boycott my wedding."
"You knew about this for months!"
"Grandmother asked me to wait."
Eleanor spoke quietly.
"She asked all of us to pay attention."
The room went still.
Martin cleared his throat and requested a recess to examine the documents.
During the break, Gregory approached me near the elevators.
His hands were trembling.
"You don't understand what you're doing," he whispered.
"Then explain it."
He glanced at the security camera.
"Not here."
Dad shouted his name from the boardroom.
Gregory flinched.
When the meeting resumed, the directors refused to authorize the proposed sale without further disclosure.
Vanessa's appointment was postponed.
It wasn't a victory over my father.
No one had been removed, and my forty-one percent wasn't an automatic majority.
But the proposed deal was stopped.
Dad stood to leave.
Before he reached the door, he turned around.
"You can own shares," he said.
"It doesn't make you family."
I wanted to tell him that family wasn't something he could revoke by vote.
Instead, I looked at the man who had missed my wedding on purpose.
"Then perhaps we're finally being honest," I said.
That afternoon, Gregory sent me one text.
Ask what happened to the Harbor Point money.
May you like
Seconds later, he called and said someone was following him.
