Chapter 10 - THE BOARDROOM
At 10:00 a.m., twenty-one people sat around Northstar’s main boardroom table.
Robert Sterling occupied the seat nearest Graham’s usual position.
Graham’s chair was empty.
That alone had started rumors.
Nathan entered at 10:04.
Every head turned.
He wore a fresh charcoal suit.
Lauren walked behind him carrying a thin black folder.
Daniel Mercer followed.
Marcus stayed outside.
Robert Sterling smiled.
“Nathan. Glad you could join us.”
Nathan took his seat.
“This is my building, Robert.”
“For now.”
Several directors shifted uncomfortably.
Nathan looked around the table.
“Before we begin, every person in this room should understand that the meeting is being recorded.”
Robert’s smile faded slightly.
“On what authority?”
“Mine.”
Nathan nodded toward Daniel.
“And legal’s.”
Robert leaned back.
“Excellent. Then the record will show that you have delayed a lawful transaction due to an unverified personal claim.”
Nathan said nothing.
Robert continued.
“We have also learned that you are attempting to alter Northstar’s voting structure by introducing an alleged biological heir days before final approval.”
Nathan clasped his hands.
“Are you accusing a sixteen-year-old girl of securities fraud?”
“I’m accusing you of emotional decision-making.”
“Careful.”
Robert smiled.
“I’m being very careful.”
Nathan looked toward the directors.
“Would anyone like to ask why Robert knows the precise age of a girl whose existence became known to me forty-eight hours ago?”
Silence.
Robert’s eyes changed.
Nathan continued.
“I never disclosed Emma’s age publicly.”
Robert spoke quickly.
“News travels.”
“Apparently faster than police reports.”
A director frowned.
“Police reports?”
Nathan opened the black folder.
“My daughter was struck by a vehicle Tuesday afternoon.”
Robert sighed.
“We’ve heard this.”
“The vehicle belongs to Sentinel Executive Services.”
Robert shrugged.
“So?”
“The same security firm used by companies controlled by Graham Cole.”
Robert looked toward Graham’s empty seat.
“Then perhaps you should question your uncle.”
“We did.”
Nathan slid a document across the table.
“Graham admitted arranging surveillance on Rachel Bennett.”
A director whispered, “Who?”
“Emma’s mother.”
Nathan’s voice remained controlled.
“He also admitted participating with Robert Sterling in a hidden asset-transfer arrangement involving Northstar intellectual property.”
Robert stood.
“That is defamatory.”
Daniel spoke.
“Sit down, Mr. Sterling.”
Robert glared.
Daniel did not blink.
Nathan continued.
“The planned acquisition requires Northstar to pay Sterling Industries two point four billion dollars.”
Everyone knew that.
“What most of you did not know is that six months later, patents worth hundreds of millions were scheduled to move into Meridian Advanced Holdings for less than ten percent of their estimated value.”
Robert looked around.
“This is nonsense.”
Lauren distributed copies.
Robert’s face drained.
Nathan watched him.
“Your signature is page twelve.”
Robert didn’t touch the document.
“Fabricated.”
“Then you’ll enjoy explaining that to investigators.”
Robert froze.
Nathan leaned forward.
“Northstar formally suspended the Sterling transaction at 6:15 this morning.”
Several directors reacted.
Robert’s voice rose.
“You do not have authority to do that unilaterally.”
“I do when fraud is suspected.”
“You will destroy both companies.”
“No.”
Nathan shook his head.
“I’m trying to save mine.”
Robert turned toward the directors.
“You’re watching a CEO have a breakdown because a teenager appeared claiming to be his child.”
Nathan’s face hardened.
“She did not claim anything.”
Robert laughed.
“She shows up with a tragic story and suddenly inherits hundreds of millions?”
Nathan stood.
His voice remained quiet.
“That girl spent sixteen years without asking me for one dollar.”
Robert looked at him.
“Rachel knew exactly what she was doing.”
The room went silent.
Nathan smiled slightly.
“Thank you.”
Robert frowned.
“For what?”
“For saying her name.”
Robert realized too late.
Nathan continued.
“You just claimed not to know anything about Emma beyond ‘news traveling.’ Yet you know her mother.”
Robert’s expression tightened.
“I know the name because you mentioned it.”
“Not in this room.”
Robert said nothing.
Nathan looked toward Daniel.
“Play the recording.”
Audio filled the boardroom.
Graham’s voice.
I had Rachel watched.
Then later:
Robert sent someone to speak with her.
Robert slammed his hand onto the table.
“Turn that off!”
Nobody moved.
The recording continued.
Celeste Ward.
Robert stood.
“This meeting is over.”
Nathan looked toward the door.
“No.”
The doors opened.
Two investigators entered with Chicago detectives.
Robert’s face changed completely.
Nathan remained beside his chair.
“Now it’s beginning.”
One investigator approached Robert.
“Mr. Sterling, we need to speak with you regarding several financial transactions and an ongoing criminal investigation.”
Robert stared at Nathan.
“You think this ends with me?”
Nathan said nothing.
“You think Graham is innocent?”
“No.”
“You think your assistant is innocent?”
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
Robert laughed.
“You don’t even know who forged your approvals.”
Nathan looked toward Lauren.
She stared back.
Robert noticed.
“There.”
His smile widened.
“Still trusting people.”
Nathan stepped closer.
“Did you order the SUV?”
Robert’s attorneys interrupted.
“Do not answer.”
Robert ignored them.
“You have no proof.”
“The kidnapping?”
“No proof.”
“The hospital?”
Robert said nothing.
Nathan stared at him.
Robert leaned closer.
“You should have signed the deal.”
Detectives moved between them.
Robert was escorted out.
The boardroom remained silent for nearly a minute.
Then one director asked the question everyone was thinking.
“What happens now?”
Nathan looked around.
“The Sterling acquisition is dead.”
“And Graham?”
“Suspended from all Northstar responsibilities.”
“And you?”
Nathan paused.
Forty-eight hours earlier, his answer would have been automatic.
He was CEO.
Founder.
Largest individual shareholder.
Northstar was his life.
Now Emma lay in a hospital.
Sophie judged houses based on whether they had dogs.
The answer felt different.
“I’m taking temporary leave.”
Several directors reacted at once.
Lauren looked surprised.
Nathan continued.
“Daniel will coordinate with the board regarding interim management.”
A director frowned.
“For how long?”
Nathan thought of sixteen missing birthdays.
“As long as necessary.”
He returned to the hospital at noon.
Emma was being discharged.
She wore jeans, a sweatshirt, and an expression of determination.
Sophie carried three stuffed animals people had brought during her stay.
Monica stood nearby.
Nathan entered.
“It’s over?”
Emma asked.
“The deal is.”
“The bad people?”
“Some are being investigated.”
“That means not over.”
Nathan smiled.
“No. Not completely.”
Monica crossed her arms.
“We need to discuss where the girls are staying.”
Nathan looked at Emma.
She immediately became guarded.
“I’m going home.”
Monica shook her head.
“You cannot live alone.”
“I’m sixteen.”
“Exactly.”
“I took care of Sophie for seven weeks.”
“You shouldn’t have had to.”
Emma looked away.
Monica softened.
“My apartment is small, but you can both come to Milwaukee.”
Sophie’s face fell.
“New school?”
Monica nodded.
Emma looked torn.
Nathan said, “There’s another option.”
Everyone looked at him.
“My house.”
Emma blinked.
“No.”
“You said that quickly.”
“Because you have guards.”
“Temporary.”
“And probably twenty bedrooms.”
“Seven.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
Sophie whispered, “Does it have a pool?”
Emma gave her a look.
Nathan almost smiled.
Monica studied him.
“You’re serious?”
“Yes.”
“You met them two days ago.”
Nathan looked at Emma.
“I missed sixteen years.”
His voice softened.
“I’m not interested in missing tomorrow.”
Emma swallowed.
“That doesn’t mean I want to move in with you.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you doing this?”
“Because you need somewhere safe.”
“I can stay with Aunt Monica.”
“You can.”
Emma frowned.
“You’re not going to fight?”
“No.”
That surprised her.
Nathan continued.
“You get choices now.”
Emma’s eyes filled slightly.
Nathan realized what he had said.
Choices.
Rachel had spent years having choices taken away.
Nathan would not continue the pattern.
Emma looked toward Sophie.
“Do you want to go to Milwaukee?”
Sophie thought.
“Does Aunt Monica have a pool?”
Monica laughed.
“I have a bathtub.”
Sophie looked toward Nathan.
“And you have two pools?”
“Yes.”
Emma groaned.
“Traitor.”
Sophie grinned.
They agreed on one week.
Only one.
Emma made Nathan repeat it.
“One week,” he said.
“And then we decide.”
“Yes.”
“No lawyers making weird custody papers.”
“No.”
“No reporters.”
“Absolutely.”
“No buying us a bunch of stuff.”
Nathan hesitated.
Emma narrowed her eyes.
“Reasonable stuff.”
“That answer concerns me.”
Nathan’s penthouse occupied the top two floors of a building overlooking Lake Michigan.
When Sophie walked inside, she stared at the windows.
“You live in the sky.”
“Almost.”
Emma remained near the door.
Nathan noticed.
“Your room is upstairs.”
“My room?”
“Guest room.”
“Better.”
He showed them two rooms across the hallway from each other.
Sophie immediately jumped onto the bed.
Emma stood near her window.
Chicago stretched beneath her.
Nathan watched from the doorway.
“Too much?”
Emma nodded.
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
“You’re not offended?”
“No.”
She turned.
“I don’t belong here.”
Nathan leaned against the doorframe.
“Neither did I at first.”
“This is your house.”
“I meant this life.”
Emma looked at him.
Nathan continued.
“I grew up with money, but Northstar became something else. Bigger than I understood. People started treating me differently.”
“Mom didn’t.”
“No.”
A small smile appeared.
“She made fun of your interviews.”
Nathan laughed.
“I’m sure she did.”
“She said you looked constipated when talking about quarterly earnings.”
Nathan stared.
Emma burst out laughing.
Nathan did too.
For the first time since the call at 3:47, the sound in the room was not fear.
Later that evening, Nathan stood in his kitchen while Sophie attempted to make grilled cheese.
Emma sat on a stool supervising.
“You’re burning it,” she told him.
Nathan stared at the pan.
“I run a technology company.”
“And yet bread defeats you.”
The smoke detector chirped.
Sophie laughed so hard she nearly fell off her chair.
Nathan looked around at the chaos.
Burned bread.
Dirty plates.
A teenager insulting his cooking.
A seven-year-old wearing one of his dress shirts backward because she had spilled juice on her pajamas.
His home had never looked worse.
It had never felt more alive.
Then his phone rang.
Marcus.
Nathan stepped onto the balcony.
“What happened?”
“We searched Celeste Ward’s apartment.”
“And?”
“We found documents connecting her to Robert.”
Nathan exhaled.
“Good.”
“But we also found something else.”
Nathan looked through the glass at Emma.
“What?”
“Photographs.”
“Of Rachel?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“Dozens.”
Nathan’s stomach tightened.
Marcus continued.
“One was taken outside St. Catherine’s Hospital.”
“When?”
“The day Rachel died.”
Nathan gripped the railing.
“And?”
“Celeste wasn’t alone.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
“Who was with her?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Nathan…”
“Say it.”
“The person standing beside Celeste is wearing a Northstar employee badge.”
Nathan’s voice became cold.
“Who?”
May you like
Marcus answered.
“Lauren Shaw.”
