Chapter 2 - MY FATHER HAD INVITED ME TO WATCH HIM STEAL MY COMPANY
The gala was not only a charity event.
It was a closing dinner.
Maeve learned that eight minutes later.
Leo opened a second folder.
The buyer was Argent Hospitality Group, a national luxury hotel conglomerate expanding into floral logistics and event supply.
Purchase price:
$28 million.
Maeve stared at the number.
Her father had spent the last year telling employees the company was barely surviving.
He had denied warehouse raises.
Delayed equipment replacement.
Reduced health benefits.
Made Maeve negotiate every refrigerated-truck repair as though she were spending money from his personal wallet.
Twenty-eight million.
“What happens to the employees?”
Leo looked at her.
“Argent plans to consolidate distribution.”
Meaning layoffs.
“How many?”
“Possibly half.”
Maeve felt sick.
“Does Caroline know?”
“Yes.”
That hurt less than it should have.
“Her payout?”
“Three million.”
“How?”
Leo turned another page.
Richard had already created a retention bonus for Caroline as “Executive Brand Director.”
A title Maeve had never heard.
Maeve laughed bitterly.
“She posts flowers on Instagram.”
“I saw.”
“And I run operations.”
“I know.”
She looked at him.
“How?”
Leo paused.
“I’ve been watching the company.”
“That sounds comforting.”
“For business reasons.”
“Sure.”
He accepted the sarcasm.
Then Maeve found her own name.
Employee transition provision:
M. Sullivan — severance eligibility at management discretion.
She read it twice.
No ownership.
No recognition.
Possibly no job.
Her father was selling a company she partly owned while preparing to dismiss her from it.
The humiliation in the ballroom suddenly looked different.
Caroline had not simply wanted to hurt her.
She wanted Maeve destabilized.
Embarrassed.
Maybe gone before documents surfaced.
“Why invite me tonight?”
Leo answered:
“Because Richard needed every family member publicly present when he announced the deal.”
“Optics.”
“Yes.”
“And Caroline humiliating me?”
“That may have been separate.”
Maeve shook her head.
“No.”
She knew her sister.
Caroline rarely wasted cruelty.
“She wanted me to leave.”
Leo watched her.
Maeve stood.
“Take me back.”
“To the ballroom?”
“Yes.”
“Maeve.”
“I’m not running.”
Something in Leo’s expression changed.
Approval?
Respect?
She didn’t need either.
When they reentered, conversations stopped.
Richard moved toward them.
“Maeve, we’ll discuss this at home.”
“No.”
Caroline folded her arms.
“Oh God. Here we go.”
Maeve looked at her father.
“Are you selling Sullivan Floral?”
Silence.
Guests nearby became very interested in their drinks.
Richard lowered his voice.
“This is not the place.”
“So yes.”
“It is a strategic transaction.”
“And you planned to tell me when?”
“When everything was finalized.”
“After?”
“Maeve.”
“Do I own part of the company?”
Richard’s face changed.
Caroline’s did too.
There.
Confirmation.
Maeve turned toward her sister.
“You knew.”
Caroline recovered quickly.
“I knew Mom left some complicated paperwork.”
“Complicated?”
“She didn’t want you overwhelmed.”
Maeve laughed.
“By ownership?”
Richard said:
“Your mother was sick when she signed those documents.”
Leo’s voice cut in.
“She was represented by two attorneys and a physician who certified capacity.”
Richard looked at him with open hatred.
Then Maeve asked:
“How much do I own?”
Her father said nothing.
Leo answered:
“Thirty percent currently.”
Maeve turned.
“Thirty? You said Rossi transferred thirty.”
“Yes.”
“What about Mom’s thirty-five?”
Leo’s gaze moved back to Richard.
“That is the problem.”
Elizabeth’s thirty-five-percent interest was supposed to pass equally to both daughters.
Seventeen and a half percent each.
Caroline had received hers.
Maeve had not.
Richard had redirected Maeve’s portion.
Where?
Richard refused to answer.
Leo did.
“Into a trust controlled by Caroline.”
May you like
Maeve’s sister had been holding seventeen and a half percent of the company that belonged to Maeve.
For eleven years.
