Chapter 13 - The Last Proxy.
The employee stock-trust trustees met again at 8:00 the next morning.
This time, Ethan was not invited to make a speech.
Neither was Claire.
Priya attended for twenty minutes to explain what finance could and could not validate in the presentation shown the previous day.
Her explanation was devastating because it was boring.
There were no accusations.
No dramatic language.
No speculation.
She simply walked through assumptions, sources, missing approvals, and the limits of the model.
By 9:15, the trustees understood that numbers had been presented to them with more certainty than the underlying work supported.
At 9:42, they reversed their position.
Five point eight percent moved from supporting current management to neutral pending final review.
Another one point two percent signaled support for Claire's governance package.
Ethan's false victory lasted less than twenty-four hours.
But Claire did not celebrate.
The board's annual shareholder meeting was now forty-eight hours away.
And Charles Hart had one final advantage.
Proxies.
Many smaller shareholders had already submitted votes before the Northstar dispute became public.
Most supported management's slate of directors.
Unless those holders changed their instructions, Ethan's allies could still control enough board seats to protect him.
Mara called Claire into headquarters that afternoon.
On the table was a new voting forecast.
"You are short."
Claire read the numbers.
"By how much?"
"Roughly three percent."
"Assuming no proxy changes."
"Correct."
Samuel Reed sat across from her.
"There is one group we have not discussed."
Claire looked up.
"Who?"
"Former employees."
The Cole Meridian legacy retirement trust held three point six percent.
Unlike the active employee trust, it was represented by an independent trustee and usually voted with management unless a major governance issue arose.
Claire frowned.
"They have not indicated a position."
"Not publicly."
Samuel slid a name across the table.
Margaret Cole.
Claire stared at it.
Margaret was the widow of Cole Meridian's founder and Ethan's aunt by marriage.
She no longer held a board seat, but she chaired the legacy trust's advisory panel.
Ethan had grown up calling her Aunt Margaret.
Claire had met her once at a museum fundraiser years earlier.
Margaret had spent twenty minutes asking Claire about nonprofit governance and never once mentioned Ethan.
Mara leaned back.
"She asked to meet you."
"When?"
"Tonight."
Margaret chose Aurelia.
Of course she did.
She arrived at seven wearing a dark green coat and carrying a cane she treated more like a pointer than a support.
Claire greeted her near the bar.
Margaret looked around.
"So this is the famous restaurant."
"Unfortunately, yes."
Margaret smiled.
"Do not apologize for good lighting."
They sat at Table Twelve.
Claire almost objected, then decided the universe had already committed to the symbolism.
Margaret ordered tea.
"Ethan says you are trying to take the company from the family."
Claire did not blink.
"The family owns less than the shareholders he says that to."
Margaret's smile widened.
"Good answer."
"It is also true."
"Those are usually the best ones."
Margaret stirred her tea.
"Did you love him?"
Claire had not expected the question.
"Once."
"Why did you hide your money?"
Claire looked at the candle.
"Because I wanted to know whether someone could care about me without caring about it."
"And did he?"
"For a while, I thought so."
Margaret nodded slowly.
"Ethan was not always like this."
Claire said nothing.
"That is not an excuse."
"I did not think it was."
Margaret's gaze sharpened.
"My husband built Cole Meridian with a rule he repeated so often we all got tired of hearing it."
Claire waited.
"Never make the numbers say what the room wants to hear."
The words settled between them.
Margaret continued.
"The independent review tells me Ethan forgot that rule."
"The final report is not out yet."
"I have read enough."
Claire leaned back.
"What do you want from me?"
"A promise."
Claire's expression cooled.
"I do not trade votes for promises."
Margaret laughed.
"Good."
She reached into her bag and removed a sealed proxy instruction form.
"Then I will not ask for one."
Claire looked at the document.
Margaret placed it on the table but kept her hand over it.
"The legacy trust is three point six percent."
"I know."
"We vote tomorrow night."
Claire's heart beat faster, though her face remained calm.
Margaret lifted her hand.
The form was blank.
"I have not decided."
Claire almost laughed.
"You brought me here to tell me that?"
"No."
Margaret pointed the cane toward the dining room.
"I brought you here to see what you do when you think the last vote is sitting across from you."
Claire held her gaze.
"And?"
"You did not ask for it."
Margaret stood.
"That helped."
She walked toward the door, then stopped.
"One more thing."
Claire waited.
"Ethan is coming here tonight."
Claire frowned.
"Why?"
Margaret looked back.
"Because I told him I was meeting you."
The front doors opened.
Ethan stepped inside.
May you like
Margaret smiled without warmth.
"Now I want to see what he does.
