Chapter 2: The Woman Behind Northstar
At eight o’clock, Adrian stormed into Vale Meridian’s boardroom.
The directors were already seated.
No one greeted him.
No one stood.
At the far end of the table, the chairman avoided his eyes.
“What is going on?” Adrian demanded.
The general counsel slid a folder toward him.
“Northstar Dominion has exercised its contractual rights.”
Adrian opened the folder.
Page after page carried signatures, dates, ownership percentages, emergency conversion clauses, and collateral agreements.
His own signature appeared everywhere.
At the time, he had barely read them.
Helena had placed the documents in front of him during the company’s worst years.
She had told him the financing came with strict conditions.
He had kissed her forehead and said, “Handle it.”
Now he understood what she had handled.
Every rescue loan had been convertible into equity.
Every personal guarantee had placed his voting rights at risk.
Every luxury property had been purchased through holding companies linked to Northstar.
Adrian did not own his empire.
He managed it.
Badly.
“This is fraud,” he snapped.
“No,” the attorney replied. “It was disclosed.”
“I never agreed to give my wife control.”
“Mrs. Vale was not identified as the controlling party at the time. But you agreed to the terms.”
Adrian slammed the folder shut.
“Where is she?”
The boardroom doors opened.
Helena entered wearing a simple cream suit.
No diamonds.
No dramatic entrance.
No visible anger.
That frightened Adrian more than rage would have.
Celeste followed him into the room despite having no official role. She stood near the wall, attempting to look confident.
Helena took the empty chair opposite Adrian.
“Good morning.”
“You planned this,” he said.
“I prepared for it.”
“For what?”
“For the day you stopped pretending to respect me.”
Adrian looked around the room.
“These people work for me.”
The chairman finally met his gaze.
“We work for the company.”
Helena opened a second folder.
“The board will vote today on whether Adrian remains chief executive.”
Adrian smiled coldly.
“They’ll never remove me.”
Helena turned toward the directors.
“Before you vote, you should review the evidence of unauthorized transfers, falsified performance reports, and payments made to Arden Consulting.”
Celeste’s face drained of color.
Adrian looked at her.
“What payments?”
May you like
Helena’s gaze remained steady.
“The ones your mistress received from company accounts.”
