Chapter 8 - Nine Chairs and One Empty Seat.
.The emergency board meeting began at eight sharp in the Grand Aurelia's top-floor salon.
Nine leather chairs surrounded the long walnut table.
Only eight were occupied.
The empty chair belonged to Eleanor Val, Charlotte's grandmother and the founder's widow.
At eighty-two, Eleanor rarely attended board meetings, but her trust still controlled a decisive block of voting rights.
Adrian looked at the empty chair with visible satisfaction.
"Mrs. Val has declined to participate."
Charlotte sat across from him.
"Did she tell you that personally?"
"Her office did."
Charlotte made a note but said nothing.
Graham Voss opened the meeting with a speech about preserving confidence, protecting employees, and preventing impulsive ownership decisions.
The language sounded responsible until Charlotte remembered the hidden sale agreement in her briefcase.
Graham proposed activating the seventy-two-hour emergency clause.
Three hands went up immediately.
Then Adrian's.
A fifth board member hesitated before raising his hand.
Five votes.
Enough to pass if Eleanor remained absent.
Daniel sat behind Charlotte as management representative, unable to vote.
Vanessa stood along the wall, officially present as a board observer.
Her father had not acknowledged her once.
Graham looked at Charlotte.
"You may respond before the final vote is recorded."
Charlotte opened the copied vendor ledger.
"Over the past eighteen months, more than six million dollars was routed through vendors approved by this board's finance committee."
Adrian sighed dramatically.
"Old allegations."
Charlotte ignored him.
"Those payments were then used to make the hotel appear less profitable than it actually was."
She passed copies down the table.
Several members began reading.
Graham did not touch his copy.
Charlotte continued.
"At nine this morning, a private sale was scheduled to transfer this hotel for less than half its independent valuation."
That got the room's attention.
One board member looked at Adrian.
"What sale?"
Adrian remained calm.
"A contingency proposal."
Charlotte placed the draft agreement on the table.
"Then why does it list you as authorized seller?"
Silence.
Graham finally reached for his copy.
Vanessa stepped forward.
"And why was my phone used to disable the lobby cameras last night?"
Adrian's face hardened.
"Vanessa, sit down."
"I'm not sitting down."
The anger in her voice came from betrayal now, not entitlement.
Charlotte watched the board members exchange uneasy looks.
Graham moved to call the vote.
"These accusations can be reviewed after the emergency period."
Charlotte closed the ledger.
"Before you vote, I have one question."
Graham stared at her.
"Where is Eleanor Val?"
Adrian answered.
"At home."
Charlotte looked toward the empty chair.
"No."
Everyone turned toward her.
"My grandmother never declines a trust vote through her office."
Adrian's expression barely moved.
Charlotte took out her phone.
She had called Eleanor three times that morning with no answer.
Then, thirty seconds before the meeting began, a text had arrived from an unfamiliar number.
Do not let them use my proxy.
Charlotte placed the phone on the table.
"Someone has been speaking for her without permission."
Graham's face went pale.
The board secretary suddenly looked down at a document in front of her.
Charlotte noticed.
"What is that?"
The secretary hesitated.
"A proxy authorization from Mrs. Val."
Adrian spoke sharply.
"Read the vote."
Charlotte held out her hand.
"Give me the proxy."
The secretary slid it across the table.
Charlotte saw her grandmother's signature.
Then she saw the witness name beneath it.
May you like
Miles Hale.
The former accountant who had supposedly disappeared eight months ago had witnessed Eleanor Val's proxy yesterday.
