Chapter 7: Thirty-One Percent

Monday at nine, every phone in the building buzzed at once.

I was standing in the lobby with a coffee in my hand and Junie's school drop-off already done.

The guard looked at his screen, then at me.

"Mrs. Bancroft. You own thirty-one percent of the company."

"I've owned it for a while," I said. "I only just asked."

Desmond came in through the revolving door at 9:04 with his phone against his ear.

His face was grey.

He saw me and stopped.

For the first time in nine years, my husband did not know what to say.

"We'll talk upstairs," he said finally, low and tight.

"The board is at ten," I said. "We can talk there."

At ten the boardroom was full.

Eight directors sat at my father's table, and every one of them had read the notice.

Desmond took the head of the table out of habit.

Jocelyn sat at his right with her legal pad and a face I could not read.

Patrick Rask sat at the far end in his grey coat and did not look at anyone but me.

"Before we begin," Desmond said, "I'd like it noted that this filing was made without consulting the executive team."

He tapped the table.

"It is highly irregular."

"It is perfectly regular," Jocelyn said evenly. "It is a trust distribution. Natalie is entitled."

She was looking at me as she said it.

It was kind and quick, and it was the right thing for the company's lawyer to say.

I did not like how fast she had said it.

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