Chương 18 - Shadows from ChicagoWhile Boston felt like a sanctuary of healing, the real world back in Chicago was not standing still.
On a quiet Tuesday afternoon while Leo was napping, my phone buzzed on the small table in our temporary family suite. I picked it up and saw an encrypted notification from Dante, my head of security.
I stepped out into the hallway to take the call.
“Dante. Report,” I said, keeping my voice low.
“Boss, you need to know what’s happening back at corporate,” Dante’s voice came through the secure channel, tight with urgency. “While you’ve been out in Boston, your former partner, Richard Vance, has been quietly consolidating the board. With your absence from the executive suite and your abrupt cancellation of the Brooks alliance, Vance is trying to push through a hostile restructuring vote to strip your voting shares.”
A cold, familiar fury flared deep in my chest.
Richard Vance. The vulture who had been waiting for years to sink his teeth into the Sterling-Brooks conglomerate. He thought that because I had walked away from my high-society engagement and flown across the country for a charity hospital, I had abandoned my throne.
“When is the emergency board vote scheduled?” I asked, my voice dropping into a lethal, glacial register.
“Thursday morning at 9:00 AM, Chicago time,” Dante replied. “If you aren't physically present in the boardroom to exercise your proxy blocks, Vance takes the company.”
I stared down the empty hospital hallway, watching a nurse wheeling a medication cart past the double doors.
“Book a private flight from Boston back to Chicago for Wednesday night, Dante,” I instructed flatly. “Tell my executive secretary to clear my schedule for Thursday morning. I’m going back to the boardroom.”
As I hung up the phone and turned around, I found Grace standing just a few feet away in the doorway of the suite, watching me with a quiet, knowing look in her eyes.
“You have to go back, don't you?” she asked softly.
“Just for twenty-four hours,” I said, stepping toward her. “Vance is trying to gut my company while I’m away. I have to protect what we’re building, Grace. Not just the corporate assets, but the trust fund that secures Leo’s long-term medical care.”
May you like
Grace looked at me for a long moment, then slowly nodded.
“Go,” she said, her voice steady. “We’ll be right here when you get back.”
