Chapter 10 - The Morning After
The next morning, every major business publication carried the same story.
ASHFORD INNOVATIONS CEO REMOVED AFTER OWNERSHIP DISPUTE REVEALED AT ANNIVERSARY GALA
By nine a.m., the video had millions of views.
By ten, investors were demanding explanations.
By eleven, Malcolm’s resignation was officially announced.
By noon, Vivian Holt had been removed from her position.
By two, the board released a statement confirming my ownership.
By four, three separate law firms had requested meetings.
I ignored all of them.
Instead, I sat in my grandmother’s old study.
The room had been untouched for years.
Dust covered the bookshelves.
The curtains were faded.
Her wooden desk still carried the faint scent of cedar.
I opened the brass box.
Inside was the original key.
Not the corporate key.
The key to this room.
Grandma Opel had given it to me the week before she died.
I remembered what she had said.
“You will spend years thinking people underestimate you because you’re quiet.”
She had smiled.
“They don’t.”
She placed the key in my palm.
“They underestimate themselves.”
I had not understood then.
I did now.
My phone rang.
Mara.
I answered.
“Tell me.”
“The board meeting is scheduled for tomorrow.”
“I’ll be there.”
“There is one complication.”
“What?”
“Malcolm is asking for a private settlement.”
I leaned back.
“How much?”
“He wants enough to preserve his reputation.”
I almost laughed.
“He wants money?”
“Yes.”
“He already has money.”
“He wants control over his public narrative.”
I looked toward the window.
“What does he want to say?”
“That the company remains his creation and that he voluntarily stepped aside.”
“No.”
Mara was silent.
“Naen?”
“No.”
“What do you want to say?”
I thought about it.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“Let the documents speak.”
She smiled.
“I thought you’d say that.”
“Anything else?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“Vivian has contacted me.”
I frowned.
“Why?”
“She wants to testify.”
“About what?”
“Everything.”
I sat up.
“What does she have?”
“Emails.
Contracts.
Expense records.
Private messages.”
My expression hardened.
May you like
“Send them.”
“Already did.”
