Chapter 9 - THE VOTE
Richard Landry did not deny it.
He sat across from Jonathan in the boardroom and adjusted his cuff.
“You were destroying shareholder value.”
“So you destroyed Emily’s reputation.”
“I exposed a conflict.”
“You manufactured one.”
Richard shrugged.
“You met her during recruitment. Weeks later you’re sleeping with her.”
Jonathan’s expression became glacial.
“You should choose your next words carefully.”
Richard smiled.
“There. That’s exactly the problem. You’re emotionally compromised.”
Perhaps he was.
Jonathan no longer cared.
The board vote was scheduled for Friday.
Remove Jonathan as CEO or allow him to continue the restructuring.
Richard believed he had enough votes.
Emily learned about it from Diane.
She was still on voluntary leave.
She had returned to Dayton, where she spent mornings helping Linda and evenings reviewing community-design proposals.
She refused Jonathan’s calls for two days.
On the third, he stopped calling.
Instead, a package arrived.
Inside were her father’s restored construction notebooks.
Alderstone had professionally preserved them.
There was no romantic letter.
No request to return.
Only one note.
These belong to the architect he raised.
Emily cried for twenty minutes.
Then she became angry.
Not at Jonathan.
At herself.
Her father had told her not to make his fight her life.
Yet she was hiding because strangers had decided she had not earned her seat.
Friday morning, Alderstone’s directors gathered.
Richard Landry began his presentation.
He described falling share prices.
Cost overruns.
Negative press.
Then the boardroom doors opened.
Emily entered.
Jonathan stared.
She wore the cream blouse.
Her mother’s blouse.
The same one from the interview.
Richard frowned.
“This is a closed meeting.”
Emily held up a folder.
“I’m here at the request of three institutional shareholders.”
That changed the room.
During her leave, Emily had been contacted by pension funds invested in Alderstone.
They did not want scandal hidden.
They wanted evidence the company could prevent another one.
Emily presented a proposal she had developed independently.
Alderstone would establish a permanent Building Integrity Division with authority separate from development executives.
Major projects would undergo community-use reviews.
Field workers could report safety concerns anonymously.
Contractors would be audited through independent verification.
And design hiring would continue anonymous portfolio screening.
Then Emily showed the financial argument.
Repairing problems early was cheaper than lawsuits.
Accessible, community-responsive buildings had lower vacancy rates.
Transparent construction records reduced financing risk.
Richard interrupted.
“This is idealistic nonsense.”
Emily looked at him.
“No. It’s capitalism with a longer attention span.”
Several directors smiled.
Richard did not.
Emily continued.
“You think Jonathan hurt this company by revealing its failures.”
She looked around the table.
“He saved it by refusing to inherit them.”
Jonathan watched her silently.
Then Brooke Landry entered.
Her father stood.
“What are you doing here?”
Brooke placed her phone on the table.
“I’m correcting something.”
Richard’s face changed.
Brooke had recordings.
Her father discussing the media campaign.
Ordering consultants to imply Emily had exchanged a relationship for employment.
Planning to use the scandal to remove Jonathan and halt the audit.
Richard stared at his daughter.
“You recorded me?”
“You taught me presentation matters.”
Her voice trembled.
“So I brought evidence.”
The board vote changed.
Nine to two.
Jonathan remained CEO.
Richard Landry was removed from the board pending an ethics investigation.
Afterward, Emily stood alone on the rooftop terrace.
Jonathan found her there.
“You came back.”
“Temporarily.”
“I dislike that word.”
“I remember.”
He stood beside her.
For a moment, they watched Columbus below.
Then Jonathan said, “Your proposal.”
“What about it?”
“I want you to lead the design side.”
Emily laughed.
“No.”
He looked startled.
“You haven’t heard the salary.”
“I’m twenty-seven.”
“Twenty-eight.”
“My birthday was last month.”
“I sent flowers.”
“You sent eighty-seven flowers.”
“The florist recommended—”
“There were so many my neighbor thought I died.”
Jonathan almost smiled.
Emily continued.
“I’m not qualified to lead a division.”
“You created it.”
“That doesn’t make me qualified.”
“What do you want?”
She looked across the skyline.
“To design.”
“Then design.”
“I want Riverside.”
Jonathan’s eyebrows rose.
“The nine-hundred-million-dollar development?”
“I want to redesign the public corridor and residential components under Diane.”
“You’re asking for something harder than an executive title.”
“Yes.”
He smiled.
“Good.”
Emily looked at him.
“And I want one more thing.”
“Name it.”
“No special treatment.”
“Impossible.”
Her expression changed.
Jonathan continued.
“I treat everyone differently. Humans are inconveniently individual.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Yes.”
He took her hand.
“At work, your drawings speak for you.”
“And outside work?”
Jonathan moved closer.
“Outside work, I reserve the right to be embarrassingly biased.”
Emily laughed.
Then kissed him.
Across the rooftop, unnoticed by both of them, Linda Carter stood near the door.
Beside her was Eleanor Alder.
Linda whispered, “How long do you think?”
Eleanor considered them.
“Engagement?”
“Yes.”
“Six months.”
Linda shook her head.
“Four.”
They shook hands on twenty dollars.
May you like
Neither woman would win.
Jonathan had already bought the ring.
