Chapter 11 - The Empty Chair
I arrived at the foundation boardroom at eight fifty with Priya beside me. Vanessa sat at the head of the table in a cream-colored suit. A photograph of our late parents hung above her shoulder, as if they were there to approve whatever she said next.
"Adrian," she greeted me. "I'm glad you've decided to be reasonable."
"Show me the proxy."
She slid a document down the polished table. It bore a copy of my signature, dated the previous evening. That was when I had been sitting in a hospital corridor while doctors examined Emma.
"I didn't sign this," I said.
Vanessa spread her hands. "Maybe you don't remember. You were upset."
Priya set a formal objection before every trustee. "This proxy is disputed. The board is also receiving notice of a preservation request relating to its financial records. Any attempt to destroy them will be documented."
The room went still. One trustee, a retired teacher named Geraldine Price, asked to see the independent auditor's preliminary findings. Vanessa insisted that Clara had fabricated concerns out of jealousy. I watched three people look away instead of asking what happened to the children at Haven House.
"My sister deliberately endangered my baby," I said. "We have video evidence in police custody."
"You struck your wife," Vanessa shot back. "Perhaps you're not the person to judge anyone."
I felt every eye turn toward me. "You're right about what I did," I said. "I have given a statement. It doesn't make your actions disappear."
Geraldine asked for a motion to postpone the vote pending an outside investigation. This time the trustees' hands went up slowly but firmly. Vanessa lost by six votes to one.
She stood so fast her chair toppled. "You have no idea what you've just done."
May you like
Priya's phone chimed. She read the screen, then took me into the hall. A process server had delivered notice of a civil claim by the lender on that forged loan.
"They're asking for an injunction freezing foundation assets," she said. "And they named Clara as a responsible officer."
