Chapter 3 - THIRTY-EIGHT PERCENT

Lucas stared at Willow as if her face had transformed.

“You own thirty-eight percent?”

“I didn’t know.”

Richard laughed suddenly.

It sounded forced.

“This changes nothing.”

Eleanor Shaw looked at him.

“It changes a great deal.”

Richard turned.

“The Sterlings still control the remaining shares.”

“Not exactly.”

Eleanor opened another folder.

The Donovan trust did not merely hold thirty-eight percent of common voting stock.

It held founder-class shares.

Those shares carried enhanced voting rights during what the agreement called a Founder Default Event.

Lucas looked irritated.

“What does that mean?”

Martin Keene answered.

“Fraud.”

“Felony misconduct.”

“Misappropriation of corporate assets.”

“Or deliberate harm against a direct Donovan beneficiary committed by a Sterling executive.”

The silence that followed was extraordinary.

Every eye moved toward Willow’s cheek.

Lucas finally understood.

“You cannot be serious.”

Michael looked at him.

“Six hundred witnesses.”

Lucas stepped backward.

Richard moved quickly.

“A marital disagreement does not activate a corporate covenant.”

Eleanor’s voice remained professional.

“That determination belongs to independent counsel.”

“Which has already been contacted.”

Richard turned toward Michael.

“You planned this.”

Michael’s face hardened.

“I spent thirty-one years trying to make sure this never happened.”

“You came after my daughter tonight.”

Richard’s nostrils flared.

“Your daughter married into my family willingly.”

Michael pointed toward Willow.

“And your son hit her willingly.”

Lucas moved closer to Willow.

“We need to talk.”

“No.”

“Willow.”

“I said no.”

The word seemed to shock him more than anything else.

For five years, Lucas had been trained to expect eventual surrender.

Willow had mistaken surrender for compromise.

Not anymore.

Martin’s phone buzzed.

He checked the screen.

Then he looked at Richard.

“The board has requested an emergency session at nine tomorrow morning.”

Richard’s jaw tightened.

“Cancel it.”

“I cannot.”

“I’m chairman.”

Martin swallowed.

“Not during a Founder Default review.”

Richard turned to Michael.

“This company employs twelve thousand people.”

“You want to destroy all of them because your daughter got slapped?”

Michael stepped forward.

“No.”

“I want to find out what you have been doing with a company my father helped build.”

Richard’s face changed again.

That fear returned.

Deeper now.

Willow saw it.

And Michael saw that she saw it.

On the elevator down, Willow finally asked him.

“What else is there?”

Michael waited until the doors closed.

Then he looked at Helena, who had followed Willow without hesitation.

“There’s something Richard has spent thirty years making sure nobody opens.”

“What?”

Michael answered.

“The founder ledger.”

Willow frowned.

Michael’s voice lowered.

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“And if I’m right about what’s inside it, Lucas slapping you tonight is going to be the smallest scandal the Sterling family has by morning.”

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