Chapter 6 - The Emergency Boardroom
The glass-walled boardroom on the top floor of Pacific Oak Crafting looked over the shipping yards of Chula Vista.
At 10:00 AM on Wednesday, Raymond sat at the head of the conference table. He looked ten years older than he had a week ago. His eyes were bloodshot, a faint blue bruise stained his jawline, and his dark suit was visibly wrinkled.
Beside him sat Florence, wearing black as if attending a funeral, her fingers clutching a leather handbag. Gavin was absent, currently facing fraud charges filed by Raymond’s defense team.
"Where is she?" Florence hissed, glancing nervously at the clock. "It's ten minutes past ten. She's doing this on purpose to humiliate us."
"Shut up, Mother," Raymond snapped, his voice raspy. "She owns forty-three percent. She can take as long as she wants."
The heavy oak doors clicked open.
I stepped into the boardroom. I wore a tailored ivory-white suit, my hair pulled back in a crisp, professional bun. Behind me walked Marcus Vance and Teresa, who was carrying a metal lockbox.
Raymond flinched as if I had slapped him. He stood up slowly, clutching the edge of the table. "Brenda..."
I didn't offer my hand. I didn't smile. I walked to the opposite end of the long mahogany table, pulled out a leather chair, and sat down. Marcus sat to my left; Teresa stood quietly behind me.
"Let's bring this meeting to order," I said, my tone as icy as a winter morning. "Point one on the agenda: the immediate resignation of Raymond Miller as Chief Executive Officer."
Florence stood up so fast her chair screeched against the hardwood floor. "How dare you! Raymond is the president of this company! His father built this business!"
"His father built a bankrupt workshop with twelve employees," I corrected calmly, sliding a thick blue folder across the table toward them. "I built a fifty-million-dollar corporation. Here is the financial audit from the last six months. While Raymond was busy buying diamond necklaces for his brother's mistress, he mismanaged two major supply lines, resulting in a three-million-dollar deficit."
Raymond turned pale as he opened the folder, his eyes scanning the red numbers. "This... this is an accounting mistake."
"It's incompetence," Marcus Vance interjected. "And because of the public scandal surrounding the forged paternity fraud, three major distributors have issued formal notices: if Raymond Miller remains CEO by Friday at noon, they cancel all contracts permanently."
Florence pointed a trembling finger at me. "You did this! You leaked the story to the press!"
"Teresa told the truth at a party you threw, Florence," I replied, looking my former mother-in-law dead in the eye. "You wanted the world to see your heir. Well, the world saw him."
Raymond sank back into his chair, breathing heavily. "You can't remove me, Brenda. You need fifty-one percent of the board votes to terminate a sitting CEO. You have forty-three. I have thirty-three. Mother controls the local proxy vote for the neighborhood council."
"You forgot Walter's twenty-four percent," I said softly.
Raymond sneered. "Dad's shares are locked in probate trust! The bank won't release them for another six months!"
Teresa stepped forward, setting the metal lockbox on the table. She pulled a brass key from her pocket, unlocked it, and lifted out a sealed legal parchment stamped by the San Diego Superior Court.
"This is Walter Miller's final codicil," Teresa said clearly. "Signed three days before his stroke, witnessed by his personal physician and notarized by the county."
Marcus took the paper, unfolding it. "Walter Miller designated Brenda Miller as the sole executor and voting trustee of his twenty-four percent share in the event of his death, specifically stating that his sons Raymond and Gavin were financially irresponsible."
Raymond stared at the paper in absolute disbelief. "No... no, Dad wouldn't do that to me!"
"Your father loved his grand-daughters, Raymond," I said, my voice softening just a fraction with genuine sorrow. "He saw how you and your mother treated Gaby, Paige, Maya, and Zoey. He knew what kind of man you were becoming."
Marcus tapped the table. "Brenda now controls forty-three percent of her own shares plus Walter's twenty-four percent. That gives her a total voting power of sixty-seven percent."
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I stood up, resting my palms flat on the mahogany table.
"Raymond Miller, by executive vote of the majority shareholder, you are hereby terminated as CEO of Pacific Oak Crafting, effective immediately. Clear your desk by noon."
