Chapter 23: On Her Terms

Joanna's POV

On Friday, the Langston and Company board named me chairman in front of forty reporters.

I stood behind a podium in the atrium where Danny's voice had played, and the banner about the next generation had been taken down.

Elias sat in the second row, and Bea sat next to him with her laptop open on her knees.

The oldest director had introduced me, and now I had two minutes of prepared remarks and a dry mouth.

"This company was started in a rented garage by two partners," I said. "One of them was my father."

"For twelve years, it was run by the other one as if my father had never existed."

"That ends today. The board has voted to put every account under outside audit, and to return the Stannard building to the family it was taken from."

A murmur ran through the room.

In the second row, Elias did not move.

His hand tightened on his knee, and Bea laid her own hand over it.

"Questions," I said.

A dozen hands went up.

I pointed at a woman in a red scarf.

"Mrs. Stannard. Trevor Langston entered a guilty plea this morning on the Aldous case. Do you have a comment?"

"I hope he tells the truth about every part of it," I said. "Danny Aldous deserved that."

"Whitney Aldous?"

"She's been charged, and I won't speak for her."

A man at the back stood up.

"Is the marriage real?"

A few people laughed.

I didn't.

"You started with a fake wedding," he said. "A convenience. A billionaire in the right place at the right time. Was it ever more than a deal?"

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