Page 137 of Point of Contention

“What you see in front of you, is all the documents you’ve hidden from me.”

His eyes widened amid the folds of old skin.

I smirked, nodding. “Yes, father. I know.”

He sniffed, sitting taller and squaring his shoulders, even though we both knew he hadn’t a leg to stand on. Addressing the room now, I pondered aloud. “I wonder how many of you knew about my mother’s thirty-three percent.”

As gazes flicked around the room, some of them questioning, confusion apparent in the pull of their brow, I noted the shareholders whose gazes dropped. Making a note of the ones who wouldn’t meet not only my eyes but the eyes of their peers.

They’d be the first to go after the Rombauers.

“Tell them, Pop,” I said, turning back to the window to stare out at the city I loved. “Tell those of us you kept in the dark what happened to my mother’s share of this corporation.”

“Cabot has sixty-seven percent,” he said quietly.

I rounded on him, then strode quickly to his side, looking down at him with one hand on the back of his chair and the other splayed across the glass table. “A little louder for the folks in the back.”

His jaw clenched as he pursed his lips, but then he said, “It’s yours, son. Always has been. Your mother made sure of it.” He hated the taste of those words, his lips puckering as though they were sour. A point of contention between he and my mother, I had no doubt.

I flicked my gaze to Travis and he picked up a stack of paper from in front of him, then moved to place it in front of my father, stacking it on top of the others.

My father slumped into his chair and motioned lazily with his hand. “I’d only wanted to test you.”

And test me he had. Unfortunately for him, I called his bluff.

“I don’t appreciate games,” I said to him. Motioning to Travis and Hastings, I said, “I want this completed by end of day.” Turning to my father one last time, I said, “You’re out, Dad.” If I didn’t have the votes to remove him before, I would definitely have them now.

He nodded, so I left it at that.

We’d have time to talk about everything that had gone down, each little stunt he’d pulled, the way he betrayed me by trying force me into a corner.

For now, I looked at the Rombauers, meeting Winston’s gaze, then Roderick’s. I ignored the other son because he was irrelevant and I didn’t quite give a shit about him one way or the other. He’d had little involvement where Reed Enterprises was concerned and, I guessed, even less involvement in his brother’s attempt to steal it out from under me. Flashing a wicked grin, I said, “The beauty of this is that I no longer need you towillinglyterminate your contract with Reed Enterprises. I hold all the cards. You’re fired. As of now, Rombauer and Sons has no further business with Reed Enterprises. Roderick…” I paused, letting this next statement settle over me. “I expect you’ll be disbarred for this, so I do hope it was worth it.”

Looking around the room, I addressed the other execs and shareholders. “Does anyone object to moving forward with me at the helm?”

No one spoke. What could they possibly say?

Everything was documented.

Legal and fucking bulletproof.

“Great.” I clapped my hands once. “All in favor, raise your hands and say ‘aye’.”

One by one, each hand raised—save for three very angry members of our former legal team—and each person saidaye.

Even my father.

Nodding, I locked eyes with Travis and he smiled, then I gave him a curt nod and left the room.

We had a long way to go. I didn’t want to run the empire, but I couldn’t walk away from it either, not if my mother had planned for me to run it someday. That had to count for something and I would not let her down. But I’d told Rylan the truth when I said I wanted to publish books.

Reed Publishing would be my focus going forward, as it had been for years, and I’d make sure that I had competent and capable people in place to run the rest of the corporation.

I’d make my mother proud while continuing her legacy

I’d take my seat at the throne, but as a silent observer.

The kingdom was mine, my birthright, but I didn’t have to become my father to see it into the future.

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