Chapter 19 - The Vote
Warren Hale was sitting in Giulietta's chair when she entered the boardroom.
He looked almost relieved to see her.
Three Marconi directors sat on his side of the table. Four sat opposite. Lawyers lined the walls.
Warren spread his hands.
"Giulietta. Good. We can settle this."
She placed the Bellflower deed on the table.
"Get out of my chair."
"The board is considering temporary leadership."
"Based on a forged emergency filing."
"Based on chaos you created publicly this morning."
"Chaos started when your son brought a golf club into my bridal suite."
One director looked away.
Warren stood slowly.
"Personal drama is irrelevant to shareholders."
"Then let's discuss shareholders."
Elena entered behind Giulietta carrying two boxes of evidence.
Then two federal investigators.
Warren's face finally changed.
Giulietta opened the first box.
"Bellflower wasn't a pile of money. It was my father's evidence archive. Transactions, unauthorized transfers, false board consents, port contracts, shell-company payments."
She looked at the three directors beside Warren.
"Some of your signatures are in here. If they're forged, you'll want to say so quickly. If they're real, you'll want lawyers who don't work for him."
Chairs moved.
Then another.
Warren did not move.
"You think documents make you untouchable?"
"No. I think documents make stories testable. That's better."
A detective entered and spoke quietly to the investigators.
Warren glanced toward the door.
Giulietta saw the calculation.
Number of people.
"Don't," she said.
His eyes returned to hers.
"Your father would hate what you're doing."
"My father built a world where everyone protected secrets until the secrets owned them. I'm ending that."
Warren's mouth twisted.
"You don't have him. You have Rafael's word."
Giulietta said nothing.
Warren continued, too angry to stop.
"Rafael put the bottle in the cabinet. Vittorio opened the gate. Antonio swallowed the pills. Everybody made a choice."
The room went silent.
Warren saw it.
Giulietta's voice was quiet.
"You just told us exactly how my father died."
Warren's face emptied.
Then the boardroom doors opened.
May you like
Preston stood there in handcuffs between two officers.
And when he saw his father, he said, "Tell them it was your idea."
