Chapter 21: The Vote

Eli's POV

The boardroom of Ardmore Capital sat on the forty-first floor, and my father's portrait had been taken off its wall.

There was a pale rectangle where it had hung.

I looked at it for a while before I sat down.

The full board was at the table.

Eliza took the chair beside mine with a folder under her arm.

She wore her sister's navy coat, and under the table she put her hand over my knee.

Across from us Constance sat at the head, in gray, with her hair back in its twist.

She looked rested, and that worried me more than anything.

"Thank you for coming on short notice," she said. "I'll be brief."

"Please," said the old investor.

"The Foundation has been the subject of a vicious rumor." She folded her hands. "The nurse's story is a grief story."

She looked down the table.

"The board will vote today to censure Ms. Farraday, and to void the voting agreement my stepson signed under duress."

"Under what duress?" I said.

"Your own. You're not well, Eli. You haven't been since your father died."

I laughed.

I didn't mean to. It came out of me before I could stop it.

"Duress," I said. "Constance, I've lived with a cut hand and a woman who won't let me touch the thermostat."

I shook my head.

"It's the first time in twelve years I've been well."

Eliza's hand pressed my knee.

"Call the vote," the old investor said.