Chapter 8 - THE VOTE VICTOR THOUGHT HE COULD WIN
Victor’s strategy was obvious.
If he could not deny the financial investigation, he would change the subject.
Adrian was distracted.
Adrian was grieving badly.
Adrian was involved with an employee.
Adrian had become unstable.
He used the gossip article as evidence.
He used my reassignment as evidence.
He even cited Noah’s hallway comment.
That part made me furious.
A six-year-old child had become a line item in a corporate power struggle.
Adrian wanted to fight immediately.
Lila stopped him.
“You’re not responding as Emma’s boss anymore.”
He looked at her.
“She starts Monday.”
“She accepted Friday.”
Lila smiled.
“Technically, she's mine now.”
For the first time, I saw someone enjoy irritating Adrian Kane professionally.
It was beautiful.
The board review was scheduled for Monday afternoon.
I attended only because the Northstar investigation involved operational records I had helped preserve.
Not because of Adrian.
That distinction mattered.
Victor appeared by video with counsel.
His board authority remained suspended, but his shareholding rights still existed.
He argued Adrian had orchestrated a personal vendetta.
Rebecca presented the opposite.
The Northstar investigation began because of Celeste’s records.
Trust discrepancies predated my employment at Kane Global.
The Halberd conflict was independently documented.
The forged approvals had technical evidence.
My relationship with Adrian?
There wasn’t one.
HR confirmed no policy violations.
My promotion?
Initiated months before.
Victor’s argument began collapsing.
Then he made one final move.
He produced an email supposedly from Adrian to me.
Once you're off my reporting line, we can finally stop pretending.
My heart stopped.
I had never received it.
Adrian stared at the screen.
“I did not write that.”
Victor smiled.
“Convenient.”
Cybersecurity examined the message header.
Spoofed.
Created through a compromised executive mailbox.
The originating IP traced to—
Northstar’s private office network.
Victor’s own evidence became evidence against him.
One director actually removed his glasses and rubbed his face.
The vote happened fifteen minutes later.
Motion to remove Adrian:
Defeated.
Motion to initiate proceedings to remove Victor permanently as board chair and director for cause:
Passed overwhelmingly.
Victor did not speak after that.
The screen went black.
Adrian remained CEO.
I expected relief.
Instead, he looked exhausted.
Afterward, I found him alone in the boardroom.
“You won.”
“No.”
He stared at the empty chair where Victor used to sit.
“Nobody wins something like this.”
I understood.
Victor had been family.
Mentor.
Almost a second father.
Evidence did not erase grief.
I sat across from him.
“Then what happens now?”
“We repair the trust.”
“And Kane?”
“We repair that too.”
“And you?”
He looked at me.
“That depends.”
My heart skipped.
“On what?”
“Whether I can ask you something without violating seventeen HR policies.”
I almost laughed.
“You no longer supervise me.”
“I know.”
“My new boss would probably enjoy firing you.”
“She absolutely would.”
Silence.
Then Adrian said:
“Would you have dinner with me?”
I stopped breathing.
“Adrian.”
“Not with Noah. Not with my mother. Not because Celeste wrote anything. Not because my son decided you're beautiful.”
A smile pulled at my mouth.
“Good clarification.”
His eyes softened.
“With me.”
I wanted to say yes.
I also wanted to be careful.
“One dinner.”
His mouth curved.
“Why does everyone keep giving me one dinner?”
“Because you're intimidating.”
“I'm charming.”
“Noah is charming.”
“That child has damaged my reputation.”
I laughed.
Then my phone buzzed.
Rebecca again.
The independent accountants had completed a preliminary reconstruction of Noah’s trust.
The missing principal and gains recoverable from Northstar-linked assets could exceed ninety million dollars.
But that was not the surprise.
Celeste had established a separate educational foundation using her own money shortly before her death.
Noah was not the beneficiary.
Neither was Adrian.
The foundation was designed for children who lost a parent before age ten.
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And Celeste had left instructions that someday—
Adrian should let Noah choose what it became.
