Chapter 3 - The Vote on Monday
My attorney, Rachel Kim, sent the trust documents before midnight.
The numbers made Anton sit down.
My shares were worth roughly eighty-seven million dollars.
More important, they gave me the deciding vote in a board meeting scheduled for Monday.
Anton stared.
“What vote?”
“A sale.”
“Of what?”
“Our hospital software division.”
He looked at the buyer.
Mercer Health Partners.
His family’s company.
Anton stood so fast the chair scraped the floor.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I knew Mom’s company was pursuing an acquisition. I didn’t know it was yours.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
His face tightened.
“I’m telling you the truth.”
I wanted to believe him.
That scared me.
Rachel continued on speaker.
“Clara’s vote can block the transaction.”
“And if I’m unconscious?”
“The temporary authorization gives Carmela limited proxy power.”
Anton closed his eyes.
There it was.
Carmela did not need me dead.
She needed me unavailable.
Just long enough for Monday.
Then Rachel said:
“There’s something else.”
The trust administrator had received a request the day before the wedding.
A request to confirm exactly when my voting rights would activate.
The sender?
Mercer Family Office.
Anton whispered:
“My mother.”
Rachel answered:
“Yes.”
I thought of every question Carmela had asked during wedding planning.
When does the trust transfer?
Have you updated your medical forms?
Do you have a power of attorney?
I thought she was intrusive.
She was preparing.
Then Harris opened another document recovered from Carmela’s bag.
A printed email.
From my uncle, George Reyes.
Chairman of Reyes Medical Systems.
One line was highlighted:
May you like
Wedding night is the only clean window.
Anton kept staring at the acquisition papers as if the company names might rearrange themselves into something less ugly. I understood the feeling. A wedding was supposed to combine two families. Ours had apparently combined two balance sheets long before either of us said I do.
