Chapter 17 - The Shareholder Meeting
Cole Heritage’s special shareholder meeting began Monday at 9:00 A.M.
Miles Dane stood at the head of the Manhattan conference table.
He looked exactly as Nathan remembered him from better years.
Controlled.
Prepared.
Certain everyone else would eventually follow his version of events.
Nathan entered with Priya, Olivia, Caroline, and two independent forensic consultants.
Miles frowned.
“You’re not an officer anymore.”
Nathan sat.
“I’m still a shareholder.”
Miles’s counsel leaned toward him.
After a whisper, Miles continued.
“The purpose of today’s meeting is to consider the Northstar restructuring proposal.”
Caroline interrupted.
“Before that, we challenge the voting authority attached to the Eleanor Cole Family Trust.”
Miles smiled.
“Again?”
Priya distributed the court’s updated order.
At 8:12 that morning, the judge had extended the injunction.
Emma’s trust shares could not be voted by Miles pending a full determination.
His thirty-one-percent block vanished from the room.
Miles remained calm.
“Northstar may still proceed if the remaining holders approve.”
Nathan studied the shareholders.
Miles had collected proxies.
But without Emma’s shares, the math had changed.
Then Priya placed Eleanor’s notebook on the table.
Miles’s expression finally shifted.
“What is that?”
“The diary entry proving your supposed June amendment was presented to Eleanor and refused.”
Miles laughed.
“A personal notebook is not dispositive.”
“No,” Priya said. “The notary’s sworn statement is more interesting.”
Silence.
Miles’s attorney leaned toward him again.
Nathan watched Miles’s face.
A man who had spent years controlling information was learning what it felt like to receive it late.
Priya continued.
“The notary states she never witnessed Eleanor Cole execute your amendment.”
“That does not mean the signature is forged.”
“A forensic examiner is comparing it now.”
Miles looked toward Caroline.
“You are destroying your own company because Nathan cannot accept losing control.”
Caroline answered softly.
“No. I’m protecting it from the man who used my niece’s trust to buy himself control.”
The shareholders began murmuring.
Miles raised his voice.
“The Northstar transaction will stabilize this company.”
Nathan stood.
“With money stolen from it?”
Daniel Ko displayed the transaction map.
Arden.
R.C. Strategies.
Dane Advisory.
Northstar.
Every transfer.
Every date.
Every amount.
Miles stared at the screen.
“You are presenting unverified allegations.”
Then a voice came from the doorway.
“They’re not all allegations.”
Rebecca entered.
Two attorneys flanked her.
Nathan’s stomach tightened.
Miles’s face became expressionless.
Rebecca looked thinner than she had two weeks earlier.
Her cream trench coat was gone.
She wore a plain dark suit.
Miles said, “You have no standing here.”
Rebecca’s lawyer answered.
“She does as a witness cooperating with ongoing investigations.”
The room erupted.
Miles turned toward Rebecca.
“What did you do?”
She looked directly at him.
“What you taught me.”
“Which is?”
“Survive.”
Rebecca placed a phone on the table.
“I kept recordings.”
Miles laughed.
“Of course you did.”
“You kept mine.”
Rebecca’s voice shook.
“I knew eventually you’d decide I was the easiest person to sacrifice.”
“You were.”
The honesty stunned even Rebecca.
Nathan watched whatever emotional history existed between them die in one sentence.
Rebecca unlocked the phone.
The audio played.
Miles:
If Northstar closes, Nathan is finished.
Rebecca:
And me?
Miles:
You receive eight million and the divorce settlement.
Rebecca:
You promised more.
Miles:
You were paid for access, not ownership.
Rebecca stopped the recording.
Miles’s attorney stood.
“This meeting is adjourned.”
Nathan said, “No.”
Miles turned.
“You do not control this room.”
Nathan looked at the shareholders.
“Neither do you.”
One by one, proxy holders withdrew support for Northstar.
The transaction failed.
Not dramatically.
Not with applause.
With numbers.
Forty-one percent in favor.
Fifty-three against.
Six abstaining.
Miles lost.
For several seconds nobody spoke.
Then two investigators entered with company security.
One approached Miles.
“Mr. Dane, we have a warrant concerning specified corporate records and electronic systems. You are instructed not to alter, destroy, or remove materials.”
Miles looked at Nathan.
“You think this ends with a vote?”
Nathan answered, “No.”
For once Miles smiled sincerely.
“Good.”
Because they both knew the same thing.
May you like
The corporate conspiracy had just collapsed publicly.
Now the people behind it would begin trying to save themselves.
