Chapter 4: The Daughter at the Boardroom Door
“You dragged Lily into this?”
David leaned against my desk.
“Our daughter is worried about you.”
“She hasn’t spoken to me in three weeks.”
“Maybe you should ask yourself why.”
I reached for the document, but David pulled it back.
“You’ll resign from the firm,” he said.
“You’ll approve the transfer, and I’ll make sure Lily never sees that video.”
“You mean the video showing what you did?”
“I mean the video that will destroy this family.”
The front door opened.
Lily’s voice came from the hallway.
“Dad?”
David’s shoulders relaxed.
“In here, sweetheart.”
Lily appeared in the office doorway wearing her hospital scrubs.
Her eyes moved from the security officers to my swollen face.
“Mom, what happened?”
David stepped between us.
“Your mother staged a corporate takeover.”
“Move,” Lily said.
“Lily, she’s confused.”
“I said move.”
He stepped aside.
Lily came to me and lifted one shaking hand toward my cheek, then stopped before touching it.
“Did he do that?”
David answered first.
“It wasn’t what it looked like.”
“It looked like your hand crossed her face on a security video.”
“You watched it?”
“Everyone at the hospital received it.
Someone forwarded the company email.”
David’s face darkened.
“Anna did that deliberately.”
“I sent it to company employees,” I said.
“I didn’t send it to Lily.”
Lily stared at me.
“Why didn’t you tell me this had happened before?”
The room became painfully quiet.
David scoffed.
“Don’t encourage her.”
Lily turned on him.
“Has it happened before?”
“No.”
“Yes,” I said.
Lily’s mouth opened, but no sound came out.
She took one step away from both of us.
“How many times?”
“Three.”
“Mom…”
“The first time, he apologized.
The second time, he blamed stress.
Tonight, he did it in front of witnesses.”
David pointed toward me.
“She provoked every argument.”
Lily spun around.
“You told me she was unstable.”
“She is.”
“You told me she was hiding money and destroying your career.”
“She bought my company behind my back!”
“I bought the company after its owners approached my firm,” I said.
“I kept my identity private because the acquisition was confidential.”
Lily pulled the folded document from David’s hand.
“You said this would authorize an independent medical review.”
“It does.”
Grace’s voice came through the speaker.
“No, Lily.
It petitions the board to suspend your mother’s voting rights.”
Lily read the final page.
Her face drained of color.
“You covered the signature page when I signed it.”
“I explained what it was.”
“You lied to me.”
David reached for her arm.
Lily stepped behind the security officer.
“Give me the document,” he said.
“No.”
“Lily, don’t let your mother manipulate you.”
She tore the signature page in half.
David smiled.
“Tearing a copy changes nothing.”
My knees weakened, and I gripped the desk.
Lily saw it and rushed forward.
“Sit down, Mom.”
“I can’t lose the company,” I whispered.
“Three hundred families depend on that pension fund.”
Lily knelt in front of me.
“Look at me.
You are not losing anything because of a signature he tricked me into giving.”
“I should have told you.”
“You should have trusted me.”
“I was ashamed.”
Lily’s eyes filled.
“That shame belongs to him.”
She wrapped both arms around me.
I pressed my face against her shoulder, and the tears I had refused to give David finally came.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“No.
We’re done apologizing for him.”
Martin cleared his throat from the doorway.
“I may be able to stop the board challenge,” he said.
David turned.
“Stay out of this.”
Martin removed his phone from his pocket.
“You called me yesterday, David.
You told me exactly how you planned to use Lily’s signature.”
“You have no proof.”
Martin tapped the screen.
David’s recorded voice filled the room:
“Once Anna is declared unfit, the board will give me temporary control.
By the time she understands what happened, the six million will be gone.”
May you like
David lunged toward the phone.
Martin stepped behind the security officers and said, “That isn’t the only recording.”
