Chapter 6 - The Vote Against Her
Jonathan did not deny visiting Judith.
That was worse.
Victoria confronted him in their penthouse at eleven that night.
He loosened his tie while she stood beside the fireplace holding Judith’s signed statement.
“You told me you learned about the irregularities six years ago.”
“I did.”
“You visited Judith eight years ago.”
Jonathan stopped moving.
Victoria held up the date.
“Would you like to try again?”
His face hardened.
“Where did you get that?”
“Answer me.”
He poured water.
She knocked the glass from his hand.
It shattered against the kitchen floor.
“Stop treating me like a client you can manage.”
Jonathan stared at the broken glass.
“I learned there might be a problem eight years ago.”
“Why did you lie?”
“Because six years ago was when I confirmed it.”
“You went to the notary.”
“She refused to speak.”
“She remembers you.”
“I asked questions.”
“And then?”
“I reported concerns to Charles.”
Victoria laughed bitterly.
“You keep doing that.”
“He was executive chairman.”
“He was the suspect.”
“At that point, there was no evidence of forgery.”
“You had enough suspicion to drive to White Plains.”
Jonathan rubbed his forehead.
“Victoria, I was trying to protect you.”
“From knowing?”
“From exposure.”
“What exposure?”
His silence answered.
Victoria stepped closer.
“You knew I had received Emily’s shares.”
“Everyone knew.”
“You suspected the transfer was fraudulent.”
“Yes.”
“And you thought keeping me ignorant protected me?”
“It gave you plausible deniability.”
The sentence was so calculated that Victoria almost did not recognize the man speaking.
“That is not how innocence works.”
“It is how litigation works.”
“I’m not talking about litigation.”
“You should be.”
Jonathan’s voice sharpened.
“If Emily succeeds in rescinding the transaction, you could be forced to disgorge years of distributions. You could face claims for unjust enrichment. If anyone argues that later shareholder ratifications cured the original defect, your own signatures become central.”
Victoria frowned.
“What later ratifications?”
Jonathan realized he had said too much.
“What did I sign?”
No answer.
“Jonathan.”
“Routine annual consents.”
“Show me.”
“I can’t.”
She stared at him.
“You can’t show your wife documents bearing her signature?”
“I am general counsel.”
“And apparently that means you belong to my father.”
Jonathan’s face changed.
“That’s unfair.”
“No. Unfair was my sister raising a daughter on a mechanic’s income while we paid ourselves dividends from shares stolen in my name.”
“She made choices.”
Victoria slapped him.
The sound shocked them both.
Jonathan touched his cheek.
Victoria stared at her own hand.
“That was wrong,” she said quietly.
He looked at her.
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
For a second, she thought he might soften.
Instead he said, “You should sleep somewhere else tonight.”
Victoria nodded.
“I was already planning to.”
The next morning, Charles called another emergency board meeting.
This time, Jonathan had prepared the resolution.
Temporary administrative leave for Victoria pending investigation of conflicts regarding the Emily Rosewood matter.
Maya objected.
“This is retaliation.”
Adrian shook his head.
“It is risk management.”
Victoria looked at Jonathan.
“You drafted this?”
He avoided her eyes.
Charles addressed the directors.
“Victoria has admitted receiving funds traceable to the challenged transaction. She has also communicated directly with a potential claimant without counsel.”
Emily.
Victoria saw the trap.
The independent investigation she had demanded had given Charles the excuse to remove her.
Maya turned to Jonathan.
“Is suspension legally required?”
“No,” he admitted.
“Then why are we doing it?”
Charles answered.
“Because leadership requires objectivity.”
Victoria laughed.
“Objectivity?”
Charles looked at her.
“You have become emotionally compromised.”
There it was again.
The word.
Emily had been unstable.
Victoria was emotional.
Any daughter who challenged Charles Rosewood became irrational by definition.
Maya voted no.
Two directors joined her.
But Charles and Adrian controlled their own votes, and two long-time directors dependent on Rosewood financing sided with them.
Four to three.
Victoria was suspended.
Security collected her company phone.
Her access card.
Her laptop.
Thirty minutes later, she was standing on Sixth Avenue carrying a cardboard box from the office she had occupied for nine years.
Claire cried when she hugged her.
Victoria did not.
Not until she reached Nina Foster’s office.
Emily was there.
She looked at the box.
“They fired you?”
“Suspended.”
“Because of me.”
“Because I stopped obeying.”
Victoria placed the old bank statement on the table.
Emily looked down.
Victoria forced herself to say it.
“Half of your settlement money went to Adrian.”
Emily’s jaw tightened.
“The other half went to me.”
Silence.
Daniel, standing near the window, turned around.
Emily did not move.
“How much?”
“One hundred twenty-five thousand.”
“You took my money.”
“I didn’t know where it came from.”
“But you took it.”
“Yes.”
Emily pushed back her chair.
Daniel touched her shoulder.
She shook him off.
Victoria did not defend herself.
“I used it for the down payment on my first apartment.”
Emily’s eyes filled.
“When Daniel and I left New York, we slept in his cousin’s basement.”
Victoria lowered her head.
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
“You’re right.”
“We couldn’t get a bank loan for his first garage because Dad called the lender.”
Victoria looked up.
“What?”
Emily laughed through tears.
“You didn’t know that either?”
“No.”
“Of course not.”
Emily walked toward the door.
Victoria said, “I’ll repay everything.”
Emily turned.
“You think this is about money?”
“No.”
“Then stop trying to solve guilt with a check.”
The door slammed.
Daniel remained behind.
Victoria looked at him.
“Why are you still here?”
He considered her.
“Because you finally told her something that made you look guilty.”
Victoria said nothing.
Daniel nodded toward the door.
“That matters.”
After he left, Lucas entered carrying a laptop.
“We found something.”
Victoria wiped her eyes.
“What?”
Lucas opened a spreadsheet.
Northline Mechanical Services had received more than sixty-two million dollars from Rosewood over twenty-two years.
Large portions had moved into shell entities.
One was called Meridian Advisory LLC.
Victoria frowned.
“Who owns Meridian?”
Lucas rotated the screen.
The registered agent was a Delaware service company.
But the beneficial ownership declaration from a banking compliance file named one individual.
Jonathan Reed.
Victoria stared at her husband’s name.
The man who had claimed he was protecting her had personally controlled a company receiving money from the same fraudulent vendor used to pay the notary who helped steal Emily’s inheritance.
Victoria felt the grief inside her turn into something sharper.
Her father had lied to her.
Her brother had used her.
May you like
Now it appeared her husband had profited from the same conspiracy.
And she had spent eighteen years sleeping beside him.
