Chapter 17 - The Counterattack
The special committee called an extraordinary board session at nine on Monday morning.
This time, the meeting was held at company headquarters under the direction of independent counsel.
No surprise proxies.
No private security hired by Linda.
No closed-door session that excluded the committee members asking questions.
I attended remotely while Miriam sat beside me.
Celia opened with the examiner's preliminary findings.
She described unresolved authenticity concerns in the trust documents, unverified quality overrides, and material conflicts related to the proposed asset transfer.
My father demanded the meeting be stopped.
Celia refused.
Then Rebecca gave the committee a careful chronology of warnings she had raised and the responses she'd received.
Luis explained the disputed executive access to his account.
Independent counsel emphasized which matters were corroborated and which remained under investigation.
No one turned the session into a television trial.
That restraint made the record harder to dismiss.
Finally, Miriam read Sarah's instruction on independent quality oversight.
One director began to cry.
He had known my mother.
He said he'd forgotten what the company sounded like when people still talked about patients first.
Celia put three resolutions before the board.
Preserve all relevant records and samples.
Suspend the proposed asset transfer pending independent review.
Place executives associated with the disputed approvals on administrative leave while the review proceeded.
The first two passed.
The third passed by a single vote.
My father was removed from day-to-day executive authority pending review.
Dylan was suspended from procurement.
Victor lost access to company systems.
I stared at the screen, barely believing it.
For one hour, the company had chosen scrutiny over loyalty to the Mercer name.
Then my father leaned into his microphone.
“You think this is over?”
I didn't answer.
He stood and walked out before the session ended.
Three hours later, Celia's office received notice that the company's largest lender was accelerating a review of its credit agreement.
My father had personally guaranteed portions of the financing.
He was prepared to let the company suffer to regain control.
Then a second notice arrived.
A subsidiary had initiated an asset sale over the weekend.
Someone had signed it before the board's protective resolution.
May you like
The buyer was a company owned by Linda.
