Chapter 6
At 8:45 the next morning, I stepped into the main conference room on the 46th floor of the Sinclair Group headquarters.
By the time I arrived, seven or eight people were already seated inside.
On both sides of the long table sat the veterans who had served my grandmother for ten, even twenty years.
Victor Vaughn, the vice president, was in the first seat on the left. When I walked in, he just sipped his tea and barely glanced at me, making no move to stand or greet me.
Next to him was Michael Woods, the CFO, and to his right was Leonard Holt, the COO.
All three of them had been brought in by Alex two years ago.
When my grandmother was alive, they still put on a show of respect. But now that she was gone, it was like I didn't even exist to them anymore.
Victor took a sip of his coffee, his voice laced with condescension. "Ms. Sinclair, your grandmother just passed, and you're already so quick to call a board meeting? Isn't that a bit much?"
"Victor." I dropped the honorifics.
I didn't bother with any titles.
His smile froze. Since I joined the company, I'd always called him "Mr. Vaughn.
"That coffee you're drinking, my grandmother brought it back from abroad for you last year. Finish your coffee, clear out your office, and be gone by this afternoon."
Victor's cup froze halfway to his lips.
"What did you just say?" he asked.
"You're fired," I said.
"The decision went into effect yesterday. The paperwork's in your email. Didn't get it? I'll have the office send it again," I added.
Victor shot to his feet, his chair scraping back half a meter.
"Charlotte! Who do you think you are, just a little girl—" he barked.
"Sit down," I said.
My voice wasn't loud, but the whole room went dead silent.
Because right behind me, someone walked in.
It was David Dunn, the head of legal for the group.
He'd been with my grandmother for twenty-eight years—one of her most trusted confidants.
With a blank face, he walked over to Victor and dropped a stack of documents onto the table.
"Mr. Vaughn, here's a breakdown of 137 related-party deals you've handled in the past two years. Twenty-four of them ended up in subsidiary accounts at Lane Healthcare. Total amount: 108 million dollars," David said.
Victor's face went ashen.
David pressed on.
"Mr. Woods, Mr. Holt, your records are here too. Want me to go through them one by one, right here in front of everyone?" he asked.
Michael and Leonard exchanged a glance and stood up together.
Michael let out a dry laugh.
"Ms. Sinclair, it's just regular business, nothing shady—" he tried to defend himself.
"Regular business doesn't go through personal accounts." David flipped to the next page.
"Mr. Woods, your wife picked up two properties in Northbridge's core district last year. The registration was right after you signed off on that 25-million-dollar deal; three days later, to be exact. Should I keep going?" he asked.
Michael fell silent.
I stood at the head of the table, looking around at everyone.
Of the twelve board members, three had been placed by Alex. Their faces showed a range of emotions, but not one of them dared to speak up.
The other nine were all people my grandmother had brought up herself. The way they looked at me started out unsure, but was slowly shifting.
James Hill, the VP of operations, was the first to stand up.
He gave me a nod. "Ms. Sinclair."
That was all it took.
Soon, the second, third, and fourth followed suit.
All nine stood up, one after another.
"Ms. Sinclair," they said.
Victor watched the scene unfold, and the last bit of color drained from his face.
I pulled out the chair at the head of the table and sat down.
"From today on, I'm calling the shots at the Sinclair Group," I said. "If you've got a problem with that, the door's right there.
"If you have legal concerns, the legal department's office is right over there."