Chapter 8: The Numbers Beneath the Smile

I set my cardboard box on the boardroom table.

The sound made every head turn.

Robert stood slowly.

“Clara, before anything else, I apologize.”

“Save it for the employees who almost lost their jobs.”

Martin stepped into the room behind me.

“This is ridiculous,” he snapped. “She was an operations employee. She has no standing to interfere with a board-approved transaction.”

I took the silver pen from my pocket and placed it beside the box.

“I have enough standing to suspend this vote.”

The general counsel cleared his throat.

“That is correct.”

Martin looked at him like he had been betrayed.

“Excuse me?”

The counsel opened the trust documents.

“Under the Tennant Family Industrial Trust, any sale, merger, liquidation, or workforce reduction exceeding fifteen percent requires written consent from the trust protector.”

He turned a page.

“The current protector is Clara Mae Tennant.”

The room went silent.

Martin’s mouth opened.

Nothing came out. Continue Reading ⬇️