Chapter 15 - The Billionaire Without a Throne
Felix spent the next forty-eight hours from a chair beside Lily’s bed.
He slept in ninety-minute pieces.
He ate vending-machine sandwiches.
He negotiated with bankers while Lily watched cartoons.
He built a rescue plan for Kingsley Hospitality without giving himself back control.
His proposal was brutal.
Arden Capital would be repaid through the sale of three luxury properties.
The merger would be canceled.
The board would resign in stages.
An independent management team would take over.
Sarah’s intellectual property claims would be settled before any restructuring.
And Felix would surrender his super-voting shares.
Odette read the plan twice.
“You would permanently lose control.”
“Yes.”
“Your family founded this company.”
“My family also poisoned everything around it with secrecy.”
Sarah looked at him.
“Don’t use that word.”
Felix glanced toward Lily.
She was asleep.
He nodded.
“You’re right.”
Odette placed the papers down.
“Celeste will fight it.”
“She can.”
“You need board approval.”
“I need seven votes.”
“You have three.”
Felix smiled faintly.
“Four.”
Odette stared at him.
“You?”
Felix shook his head.
“You.”
Silence.
Odette looked toward Lily.
Felix continued.
“You want to call yourself her grandmother?”
“Earn the word.”
Odette did not answer.
At the emergency board session that evening, Celeste appeared by video.
She looked flawless again.
Felix hated how familiar that mask had become.
“You are attempting a corporate suicide,” she said.
“No.”
Felix replied.
“I’m removing the people who think a company is worth more than the truth.”
Celeste laughed.
“This is about Sarah.”
“This is about Lily.”
Celeste’s smile disappeared.
“The child you have known for three days.”
“My daughter.”
The words came easily now.
Celeste looked away.
Felix presented the rescue plan.
The first vote failed.
Six to six.
Then Odette spoke.
“For forty-one years, I have placed Kingsley Hospitality above every personal relationship in my life.”
Felix watched his mother carefully.
Odette looked directly into the camera.
“That ends today.”
She voted yes.
Seven votes.
The plan passed.
Celeste stood.
“You just destroyed your own family.”
Odette looked at her.
“No.”
Her voice was quiet.
“I did that seven years ago.”
“The difference is that I finally know it.”
The meeting ended.
Felix remained beside the dark screen.
Sarah approached.
“You did it.”
“No.”
He looked toward Lily.
“We survived one vote.”
His phone rang.
Police.
They had located the missing archive boxes.
Inside Celeste’s Manhattan townhouse.
Along with something else.
A printed copy of Lily’s medical allergy profile.
May you like
Celeste’s fingerprints were on the pages.
---
