Vanessa flipped the laptop open like she was carving a turkey. Her lawyer, a man named Pritchard with a tie too tight for his neck, started reading aloud from the operating agreement. “Section nine, paragraph C — in the event of the founder’s death, controlling interest transfers to the next of blood relation actively employed by the company.” He looked up, beaming. “That would be my client. Mrs. Brennan, your tenure here is over.”
I folded my hands. “Read paragraph D, please.”
Pritchard blinked. He flipped the page. His mouth opened, then closed.
“Out loud,” I said softly.
He cleared his throat. “Paragraph D — blood relation must have been employed for no fewer than thirty-six consecutive months prior to the founder’s death.”
Vanessa’s smile cracked at the corner. “I worked summers here in college—”
“In 2009,” I said. “David showed me the W-2s last Christmas. He laughed about it. Said you complained the coffee machine was beneath you and quit after nine days.”
The room went very still. I reached into my bag and pulled out a slim blue folder. “While we’re reading, let’s do the amendment David filed six weeks before the accident. He was worried, Vanessa. You’d been calling him about your debts. The amendment names me as sole successor, ratified by the board, notarized, and filed with the state.” I slid it to Pritchard. “You’ll want to read paragraph two.”
Pritchard read it. His face turned the color of wet paper. He leaned to Vanessa and whispered something. She shoved him.
“There’s one more thing,” I said. I nodded to our CFO, who opened his own laptop. “The forty-thousand-dollar consulting invoice you submitted last month under a shell company called Halcyon Strategic? David never signed off on it. I did the audit myself last night.” I met her eyes. “The board voted this morning. We’re pressing charges.”
Vanessa stood so fast her chair tipped. “You little—”
“Adults will take it from here,” I said, and slid the laptop gently back across the table. “Security will walk you to your car.”
She left without the binder. I kept David’s ring above my heart, and finally, finally, exhaled.
