Chapter 15 - The Final Vote**
The board convened forty-eight hours later—emergency session, full attendance.
I entered with Eleanor and Sterling. Daniel was present too—flanked by his lawyer, calm again, restored. He looked at me with cold, steady eyes.
The vote was simple: removal from all positions, full investigation referral to authorities, and appointment of interim leadership.
Before the vote could be called, Sterling stood.
"Before we proceed," he said, "there is additional context."
He placed documents on the table.
"These records show a coordinated effort to divert funds, falsify reports, and consolidate control. Not by Daniel alone. By a group operating in parallel."
He slid copies forward.
"Shell companies. Shared signatories. Layered transfers. All tracing back to a single architect."
He looked directly at the head of the table.
Robert Lang.
A murmur swept the room.
Lang stood slowly. He looked tired but composed.
"I did what was necessary to protect this company from mismanagement," he said. "Daniel was reckless. But the structure… the capital movement… that was years in the making."
"For whose benefit?" I asked.
"Mine," he said simply. "And yours. Or so I believed. Your grandfather and I built this together. When he passed… I saw the direction shifting. I made choices to preserve what we built."
"By stealing from it?"
"By shielding it from being dismantled piece by piece. Daniel was never the threat alone. He was the face of a takeover I couldn’t stop openly."
"You funded him," Sterling said. "You gave him the means to challenge Claire."
"I gave him enough rope," Lang said. "To hang himself. And to expose the rot."
"You used him," I said. "You let him humiliate me, betray me, ruin my farm—all to serve your own strategy."
"I didn’t know about the fire," Lang said sharply. "That was his choice. One I would never have sanctioned."
"But you knew he was unstable. You knew he was dangerous. And you used him anyway."
Lang looked at me.
"I apologize for that. Truly. But the end… the company remains. In responsible hands."
"At what cost?" I said.
The vote was called.
Removal of Daniel Mercer: unanimous.
Referral to authorities: unanimous.
Formal inquiry into Robert Lang: unanimous.
Lang nodded once.
"Fair enough."
He left the room without another word.
Daniel sat frozen. He looked around the table—at faces that had turned away. At me.
"You…" he said, voice hollow.
"You played your part," I said. "They played theirs. And now it’s done."
He stood, his lawyer already gathering papers.
May you like
"This isn’t finished," he said quietly. "Lang isn’t the only one."
Then he was gone.
