Chapter 6 - The Boardroom Offer
I invited Harrison up to my apartment. He carried a leather briefcase and looked as exhausted as I felt.
“How’s the head, Chloe?” he asked, sitting on my sofa and placing a gentle hand on my arm.
“It throbs, but the doctor says the concussion is mild,” I replied, sitting across from him. “I assume you’re here about Caldwell Construction.”
Harrison nodded, pulling a stack of legal documents from his briefcase. “The board held an emergency session this morning. Arthur has been officially removed as CEO and Chairman. The bank was ready to pull our operating lines and declare bankruptcy by noon today.”
“I know,” I said. “Without a clean audit, no bank will touch the firm.”
“Which brings me to why I’m here,” Harrison said, looking me straight in the eye. “The board reviewed the forensic evidence you provided. The level of detail, the speed of your investigation, and your absolute integrity under pressure… Chloe, we want you to take over as Interim Chief Financial Officer.”
I blinked, taken aback. “Harrison, I’m thirty-two. I’m an independent auditor.”
“You are the only person who knows where every dollar went,” Harrison countered firmly. “You have the trust of the federal investigators, and more importantly, your name is clean. If you step in, the banks have agreed to keep our credit lines open. You can save three hundred innocent employees from losing their jobs because of your father’s greed.”
I looked out my apartment window toward the city skyline.
For years, my father had diminished my career, calling my work 'glorified bookkeeping' while bragging about his own corporate empire. He had used my name as a pawn to cover his crimes, assuming I was too timid to ever fight back.
Stepping into his company—cleaning up his mess, saving his employees, and rebuilding the firm under the Caldwell name without his toxic influence—was the ultimate form of reclamation.
“I have three conditions, Harrison,” I said, looking back at him.
“Name them.”
May you like
“First, full autonomy over all financial decisions with zero interference from family members,” I stated. “Second, a formal press release stating that Arthur Caldwell’s actions were entirely isolated and uncovered by an internal audit led by me. Third, a competitive executive compensation package.”
Harrison smiled, extending his hand. “Draft the contract, Chloe. You’ve got the job.”
