Chapter 12 - The Boardroom

The emergency board meeting started at nine.

Mom arrived at eight-thirty.

Of course she did.

She wore a navy suit, pearl earrings, and the expression she used at charity events when she wanted everyone to think she was the calmest person in the room.

I came with Dana and a corporate attorney named Marcus Lee.

Mom's eyes narrowed.

"You brought outsiders into family business."

"You used company money to hire a private investigator to follow my wife."

The room went silent.

Three board members looked at Mom.

She didn't blink.

"I had concerns about risk."

"You had someone photograph my home."

"Christopher, you're emotional."

I almost smiled.

There it was. Her favorite word whenever anyone resisted her.

Emotional.

Unstable.

Confused.

Anything except right.

Marcus distributed copies of invoices showing company funds paid to Russell Pike. Then he presented a notice challenging Mom's voting authority based on potential fraud in the trust amendment.

For the first time, her face cracked.

"Where did you get that?"

"Does it matter?"

"Elaine," she said.

Not a question.

I said nothing.

Mom stood. "This meeting is over."

One board member, Mr. Chen, shook his head. "No, Bernice. It isn't."

The CFO presented two years of questionable expenses: investigator fees, legal research related to guardianship law, and payments to a document service that had nothing to do with Reed Development.

Mom's hands tightened on the table.

"I did what was necessary to protect this company from Christopher's poor decisions."

"My marriage is not a company asset," I said.

"Everything becomes an asset when your name is on the building."

That sentence told the room more than any document could.

The board voted to suspend Mom's access to company funds pending an independent audit. They also postponed any vote on my position until the trust challenge could be reviewed.

Mom gathered her papers slowly.

When she reached the door, she looked at me.

"You think Savannah won?"

"This isn't a game."

"It became one when she decided to separate you from your family."

"You did that yourself."

Her face went cold.

"Then I hope she's told you about the money."

I frowned.

Mom smiled.

"Ask your wife where forty thousand dollars went."

Then she walked out.

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I turned toward Savannah, who had been waiting outside with Dana's assistant.

Her face told me immediately that the number meant something.