Chapter 5 - THE MIDNIGHT VOTE
At 11:58 p.m., the ballroom became a boardroom.
Eleven Hale Holdings directors joined by secure video.
Three were physically present.
The rest appeared on the mansion's screens.
Damian sat across from me.
His suit jacket had been changed.
The cake was gone.
But a small streak of frosting remained near his ear.
For some reason, I liked that.
A reminder that he wasn't untouchable.
Nathan Price appeared remotely from New York.
He looked exactly as he always had.
Silver hair.
Calm smile.
Expensive glasses.
The man who had explained my inheritance after Mom's funeral.
The man who had attended my graduation.
The man who had toasted my wedding.
"Claire," he said.
"We need to handle this carefully."
I almost laughed.
"How much did Damian pay you?"
His smile faded.
"Excuse me?"
Rebecca slid the bank record onto the screen.
Nathan said nothing.
Dad leaned forward.
"You sold access codes."
"I followed the trust's emergency provisions."
"For $4.8 million?"
Nathan removed his glasses.
"The payment is unrelated."
Damian interrupted.
"The board is not here to discuss Nathan's private affairs."
"Then why are we here?"
Nathan answered.
"Because Victor Hale has concealed material criminal exposure for fourteen years."
The directors began speaking at once.
Dad looked at me.
I could see what Damian wanted.
Chaos.
Fear.
A rushed vote.
Nathan continued.
"Under Section 9 of the corporate governance agreement, evidence of executive misconduct triggers temporary suspension of the chair."
One director frowned.
"Has the evidence been verified?"
Damian tapped his tablet.
An audio recording began.
Malcolm Cross's voice.
Then my father's.
Eight million.
Thirty days.
No police.
No federal authorities.
The recording sounded terrible.
Because it was terrible.
Dad didn't deny it.
"I made that payment."
Several directors reacted.
Damian leaned back.
"Then I move to suspend Victor Hale immediately."
"Seconded," Nathan said.
My heart pounded.
At midnight exactly, my phone vibrated.
A notification appeared.
HALE LEGACY TRUST DISTRIBUTION COMPLETE.
31.4% VOTING INTEREST TRANSFERRED TO CLAIRE HALE CROSS.
Damian saw it.
His expression changed.
For one fraction of a second.
Then he smiled again.
"Congratulations, sweetheart."
I hated the word.
Nathan continued.
"Upon Victor's suspension, interim voting authority passes to the largest consolidated shareholder block."
I looked at my mother.
She whispered, "That's you."
"No," Damian said.
Then he placed the unsigned transfer documents on the table.
"I invoke the marital proxy."
My stomach dropped.
"I never signed it."
"You signed page twelve."
"Not page twenty-one."
Nathan spoke.
"Under the document's integration clause, the signature applies to all attached schedules."
Rebecca stood.
"Those schedules were added after execution."
"Prove it."
Mom's face changed.
She hadn't expected this.
Damian had.
The board's general counsel began reviewing metadata.
Minutes passed.
Then she looked up.
"The signature package was created six weeks ago."
Damian nodded.
"The additional schedules were uploaded two weeks ago."
My pulse quickened.
The general counsel continued.
"However..."
Everyone waited.
"The integration clause was contained in the original package."
Damian smiled.
My shares had transferred at midnight.
And before 12:07 a.m., I had apparently lost control of them.
The vote began.
Victor Hale was suspended.
Six votes to five.
Then came the interim chair vote.
Damian nominated himself.
Dad looked sick.
Mom gripped my hand.
Votes appeared.
Five for Damian.
Five against.
One remaining.
Nathan Price.
He smiled into the camera.
"I vote in favor."
Damian Cross became interim chairman of Hale Holdings.
At 12:14 a.m., on my thirtieth birthday, my husband controlled my family's empire.
He stood.
"This house is owned by a Hale subsidiary."
He looked at the security officers.
"And as interim chairman, I am ordering unauthorized persons removed."
His gaze settled on my mother.
"Starting with the dead woman."
No one moved.
Damian frowned.
Then the head of security touched his earpiece.
"Sir."
"What?"
"There is a problem."
"What problem?"
The security chief looked at me.
"Mrs. Cross activated the Hale Founder Clause three minutes ago."
I stared at him.
"I did what?"
Mom slowly smiled.
Dad looked confused.
The security chief continued.
"Upon transfer of Evelyn Hale's legacy shares to a living direct descendant, executive property authority automatically transfers outside the corporate chair."
Damian's face changed.
"To whom?"
The man answered.
"Claire."
I looked around the mansion.
My mansion.
May you like
Then I looked at Damian.
"Get out."
