Chapter 6 - The Last Vote
The old Reed Global Rail warehouse had been abandoned for eleven years.
We arrived seven minutes before Victor.
Federal investigators surrounded the property while Graham and I entered with an agent.
Inside were rusted shelves, broken machinery and decades of dust.
“Why would Marcus hide anything here?” I asked.
“Because nobody in the family comes here anymore.”
Graham stopped near an old office.
A faded photograph hung crookedly on the wall.
Walter Reed.
Graham’s grandfather.
Beside him stood Graham’s father.
Graham stared at it.
“My father hated this place.”
“Why?”
“He said this was where the Reed family learned to value the company more than each other.”
I looked at him.
“Maybe he was trying to warn you.”
Graham didn’t answer.
We found the safe behind the photograph.
His father’s birthday opened it.
Inside were paper ledgers.
Bank records.
Signed authorization forms.
Everything.
Graham exhaled.
“We have him.”
A voice came from behind us.
“No.”
Victor stood in the doorway.
Two men were beside him.
Federal agents immediately appeared behind them.
“Hands where we can see them!”
Victor stopped.
For the first time, he looked old.
Not powerful.
Not untouchable.
Just tired.
Graham held the ledgers.
“It’s over.”
Victor laughed.
“You think those papers save the company?”
“They tell the truth.”
“The truth destroys Reed Global.”
“No,” I said. “You did that.”
Victor looked at me.
“You really believe he’ll choose you?”
I frowned.
“What?”
“Ask Graham what happens when the board gives him a choice between his marriage and his chairmanship.”
Graham’s phone rang.
Naomi.
He answered.
Her voice came through clearly.
“The board reconvenes in twenty minutes.”
Graham looked at Victor.
Naomi continued.
“They’re prepared to retain you as CEO on one condition.”
“What condition?”
“Immediate annulment. Avery resigns. Public statement describing the marriage as a personal mistake unrelated to corporate affairs.”
I laughed quietly.
Victor smiled.
“There it is.”
Graham said nothing.
Victor stepped closer until an agent stopped him.
“You’ve wanted that chair since you were twenty-five.”
“No,” Graham said.
“You sacrificed everything for it.”
“No.”
“Relationships. Friends. A life.”
Graham looked at me.
Victor smiled.
“So choose.”
Twenty minutes later, the board appeared on Graham’s laptop.
Victor sat in federal custody nearby while investigators reviewed the ledgers.
The lead director spoke.
“Graham, the board appreciates the evidence you have provided. Victor Reed will be suspended immediately.”
Victor’s face remained blank.
“However,” the director continued, “the circumstances surrounding your marriage have caused significant reputational damage.”
Graham nodded.
“I understand.”
“We will retain you as CEO if you agree to the conditions Naomi communicated.”
I looked away.
This wasn’t my decision.
It shouldn’t be.
I quietly removed my ring.
Then Graham spoke.
“No.”
Every face on the screen changed.
The director frowned.
“Excuse me?”
“I said no.”
“Graham.”
“You want Avery to resign because Victor tried to frame her.”
“That isn’t—”
“You want me to annul a legal marriage because the press finds it inconvenient.”
“Shareholders require stability.”
“Then give them honesty.”
The director leaned back.
“Are you refusing the board?”
“I’m resigning.”
I snapped my head toward him.
“What?”
Victor’s smile disappeared.
Graham continued.
“Effective immediately.”
“Graham,” I whispered.
He muted the call.
“You can’t do this.”
“Yes, I can.”
“Forty-three thousand employees.”
“Need a company run by people willing to tell the truth.”
“You spent your entire life building this.”
“No.”
He looked toward the old photograph of his father.
“I spent my entire life believing I had to protect it.”
He looked back at me.
“There’s a difference.”
Then he unmuted the call.
“I’ll remain for thirty days to stabilize operations. Naomi will coordinate an independent investigation. Every affected employee pension account gets restored before any executive receives another bonus.”
The board director stared at him.
“And after thirty days?”
“You find another CEO.”
The call ended.
Victor shook his head.
“All this for her?”
Graham looked at his uncle.
“No.”
He glanced at me.
“This is because of her.”
There was a difference.
And I understood it.
Federal agents led Victor away.
He stopped beside Graham.
“You’ll regret this.”
Graham answered quietly.
“My father said the same thing when I refused to become like you.”
Victor’s face hardened.
Then he was gone.
The warehouse became silent.
I looked at the ring in my hand.
Graham noticed.
“If you want the annulment, I’ll sign it.”
I swallowed.
“And if I don’t?”
For once, the Ice King had no answer.
“I don’t know.”
I stepped closer.
“That might be the first thing you’ve said all week that I completely believe.”
He almost smiled.
Then I put the ring into his palm.
His expression fell.
“Ask me again,” I said.
“What?”
“When there isn’t a trust deadline.”
He stared at me.
“When there isn’t a corrupt uncle.”
I moved closer.
“When there isn’t a board meeting, a flash drive or a billion-dollar company hanging over our heads.”
Understanding slowly reached his eyes.
“Avery—”
“Ask me when the answer can actually belong to me.”
He closed his fingers around the ring.
May you like
“I will.”
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