Chapter 12 - Nineteen Percent.
The private conference hall had no windows and no cameras that Victoria controlled.
That did not mean she lacked an audience.
Twelve directors sat around a black lacquered table while company attorneys lined the back wall.
Victoria occupied the chair at the head as if it were a throne.
She wore the same black silk gown she had worn at the gala, but the warmth had vanished from her face.
When Adrian entered with Mara, Celeste, Nolan, Malcolm, and two detectives, every conversation stopped.
Victoria's eyes fixed on Mara.
"Employees are not permitted in confidential board sessions."
Mara held up a copy of the trust calculation.
"Then it's fortunate I'm not here as an employee."
A few directors looked confused.
Adrian placed the paternity report on the table.
"The four boys are mine."
A director near the far end removed his glasses.
Another whispered something to the company secretary.
Victoria did not touch the report.
"A rushed private test proves nothing."
Hana's colleague had sent full chain-of-custody documentation.
The detectives had witnessed the transfer.
Adrian slid that packet forward too.
"Then dispute it in court."
"Tonight, the trust language applies."
Simon Pierce joined by secure video and confirmed the calculation.
Adrian held nineteen percent.
The children's trusts held nineteen percent.
Mara, as their sole legal custodial parent, controlled those votes temporarily.
Victoria's own direct block was twenty-two percent.
Her coalition had always depended on Adrian voting beside her.
That assumption was dead.
Victoria looked at Mara with open contempt.
"So this is what you wanted."
Mara did not raise her voice.
"I wanted my children to stop asking why their father hated them."
The sentence cut deeper than any accusation.
Victoria turned to the board.
"This woman signed a confidentiality agreement and accepted a payment."
Nolan stepped forward.
"The agreement contains a forged signature."
Victoria's head snapped toward him.
"Be careful."
"I forged Adrian's signature at your direction."
Silence dropped across the table.
Celeste closed her eyes briefly.
Nolan continued.
He admitted intercepting letters, restricting contact, and helping draft the scheme to frame Mara.
One director stood.
"Are you confessing to criminal conduct in a board meeting?"
Nolan looked toward the detectives.
"I already confessed to them."
Victoria laughed softly.
"A desperate man will say anything when police frighten him."
Malcolm placed a speaker on the table.
"Then perhaps you would prefer your own voice."
The recording played.
Victoria's instructions about removing Mara and manufacturing a custody case echoed through the room.
Several directors stopped looking at Victoria.
One began taking notes.
Another quietly moved his chair away from her end of the table.
Victoria remained composed until the recording ended.
Then she attacked the weakest point.
"Mara Bennett still concealed four heirs from this family for five years."
Mara stiffened.
Victoria leaned forward.
"Ask her why she never contacted Adrian after her mother's surgery was complete."
Adrian answered before Mara could.
"Because you gave her a forged agreement saying I wanted nothing to do with them."
"She could have questioned it."
"And I could have questioned you."
Victoria's face hardened.
Adrian continued.
"I didn't."
"That is my failure."
Mara looked at him, surprised.
"But your crimes do not become her responsibility because I was too weak to investigate them."
The company secretary cleared his throat.
"We need to proceed to the motion."
Victoria smiled.
"Yes."
"Remove Adrian Vale as chief executive immediately."
Votes were called one by one.
Victoria's allies voted yes.
Three undecided directors abstained.
Adrian voted no with his nineteen percent.
Then the secretary turned to Mara.
"Ms. Bennett, as temporary voting guardian for the four minor beneficiaries, how do you vote?"
Mara looked at Victoria.
For six years, fear had taught her to lower her eyes around powerful people.
This time she did not.
"No."
The secretary totaled the votes.
The motion failed.
Victoria's face finally broke.
Adrian stood.
"Now I have a motion."
He looked around the table.
"Suspend Victoria Vale from all company authority pending criminal and fiduciary investigation."
Before the secretary could begin, the conference hall doors opened.
Graham Cole entered between two officers.
His face was gray.
He looked directly at Victoria.
"Don't bother voting yet."
Everyone turned.
May you like
Graham swallowed.
"She has one more secret, and it is worse than the children."
