Chapter 4 - The Runway Without Bianca
By midnight, Lucas had enough to call an emergency meeting of the independent directors.
Not enough to prove fraud.
Enough to stop pretending everything was normal.
Bianca joined by video from her penthouse.
Gideon joined separately.
Sophie sat beside Lucas but had no board vote.
She owned fifteen percent of Vale House under the official capitalization table, but she had never been a director.
That had been Bianca’s idea after Celeste died.
At the time, Sophie had accepted it.
She was twenty-five.
Still grieving.
Still modeling internationally.
Bianca had told her boardrooms would only distract from her “real gift.”
Now Sophie understood why.
The board’s lead independent director, seventy-year-old Miriam Adler, looked exhausted.
“Let us separate issues. First: backstage misconduct.”
Bianca said, “Sophie assaulted me.”
Sophie answered, “I did.”
Lucas glanced at her.
She continued.
“I hit Bianca twice. It was wrong. I will not lie about that.”
Bianca seemed surprised.
Sophie added, “She also ordered the seams of my gown compromised before cutting the dress in front of witnesses.”
Maya’s recording was played.
Then the recovered phone audio.
Bianca did not deny her voice.
“I wanted Sophie removed from the runway.”
Miriam asked, “Why?”
“Because the gown was associated with an unresolved archive dispute.”
Lucas leaned forward.
“You knew Mom hid corporate material inside it.”
“No.”
“Then what dispute?”
Bianca’s face hardened.
“Celeste had a habit of using garments to conceal notes and pattern ownership records.”
Elena muttered, “That is not true.”
Miriam heard.
“Elena?”
“Celeste catalogued everything. She did not hide legal paperwork in dresses as a habit.”
Bianca replied, “You were a seamstress, not her attorney.”
Elena looked straight into the camera.
“I knew her longer than you did.”
The second issue was ownership.
Lucas presented the termination agreement.
Nora Kline joined remotely and confirmed she drafted it.
The ValeSign log showing Celeste’s credentials used from Gideon’s laptop followed.
Gideon objected.
“My device could have been used by another authorized employee.”
Miriam asked, “Was it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Celeste ever use your laptop?”
“Possibly.”
Nora cut in.
“She was hospitalized.”
Gideon’s voice sharpened.
“Hospitalization does not eliminate remote access.”
Lucas asked, “Then why would her authentication originate from your laptop?”
Gideon did not answer.
Miriam called for outside forensic counsel.
Bianca immediately objected.
“I hold voting control. I will not authorize a fishing expedition.”
Miriam replied, “This board has authority to investigate possible misconduct involving officers and directors.”
Bianca’s smile vanished.
“Be careful, Miriam.”
Everyone heard the threat.
Miriam did not flinch.
“I have spent forty-four years being careful around people who mistake ownership for immunity.”
The board voted five to two to engage independent forensic counsel.
Gideon abstained.
Bianca could not stop it through board voting.
Not yet.
Then she used the weapon she did have.
“As controlling shareholder, I am calling a special shareholder meeting.”
Lucas looked at her.
“For what purpose?”
“To reconstitute this board.”
There it was.
If Bianca’s claimed 51 percent ownership remained valid long enough, she could replace directors investigating her.
Miriam said, “You understand the optics.”
“I understand my rights.”
Sophie leaned toward the camera.
“If Mom never sold you those shares, you’re threatening the board with votes you stole.”
Bianca smiled.
“Then prove it.”
The meeting ended at 2:11 A.M.
Vale House’s show was already global news.
The clothes had been well received.
The scandal had been received better.
By eight in the morning, photographers surrounded the Madison Avenue flagship.
Sophie’s two slaps circulated everywhere.
A fashion commentator called her “the entitled heiress who physically attacked the woman who saved her family brand.”
Sophie watched the clip once.
Then turned it off.
Maya entered the private studio.
“You need to say something.”
Lucas said, “No public statements yet.”
Sophie looked at him.
“About the ownership dispute, fine. About hitting her? I should.”
Lucas considered.
“You admit exactly what happened. No excuses.”
“I know.”
Sophie posted a short statement.
Last night I struck Bianca Moretti twice. I was angry and wrong. The fact that I believe she intentionally sabotaged my gown does not justify hitting her. I will cooperate with any legal process.
Then:
I will not comment on the corporate documents discovered backstage until they are independently authenticated.
Within minutes, public reaction shifted.
Not entirely.
But enough.
Maya looked impressed.
“You didn’t blame her.”
Sophie looked toward the silver gown lying across Elena’s worktable.
“I did blame her. Just not for what I did.”
At noon, Bianca arrived at Vale House with lawyers.
She demanded access to the design floor.
Lucas refused pending the board’s review of the sabotage recording.
Bianca produced a written shareholder consent signed by her entity.
It purported to remove Miriam Adler and two other independent directors effective immediately.
Lucas’s attorney read it.
“If her shares are valid, this may be effective subject to notice requirements.”
Sophie’s stomach tightened.
Bianca watched Lucas.
“You forgot something.”
“What?”
“I don’t need the board to like me.”
Security could not physically exclude a shareholder with apparent legal rights from all corporate areas indefinitely.
Lucas allowed Bianca into a conference room under supervision.
She walked past Sophie.
“Beautiful apology.”
Sophie did not answer.
Bianca paused beside the silver gown.
“You should have stayed a model.”
Elena stepped between them.
“You should stay away from my table.”
Bianca smiled.
Then her phone rang.
She answered.
Whatever she heard changed her face.
“What do you mean frozen?”
Everyone looked up.
Bianca walked toward the window.
“No. Call the bank again.”
Sophie glanced at Lucas.
His phone buzzed simultaneously.
He read an email.
Then looked at Bianca.
Outside forensic counsel had obtained an emergency preservation agreement from the company’s banks.
Certain payments to Bianca-controlled entities had been temporarily frozen pending review.
Lucas read the first name.
“Morrow Design IP LLC.”
Bianca turned.
The line of her mouth hardened.
For the first time, the dispute was no longer only about history.
May you like
It was about current money.
And according to the preliminary ledger attached to Lucas’s email, Vale House had paid Morrow more than $18.6 million in royalties since Celeste’s death.
