Chapter 14 - Marcus's Choice
That night, Marcus came to my room.
He knocked.
For eleven years, he had never knocked.
I let him in.
He carried a folder.
"What is this?"
"My resignation."
I looked at him.
"No."
He seemed surprised.
"You want me gone."
"From my marriage?"
My voice remained steady.
"Yes."
The answer hurt him.
I didn't soften it.
"But not like this."
Marcus placed the resignation on the table.
"If I leave voluntarily, the board might keep you."
"And every investigator will assume you're admitting guilt."
"I am guilty."
"Of having an affair."
"Of arrogance."
He looked at me.
"Of humiliating you."
His voice lowered.
"Of letting Charles manipulate me."
"That's not the same as stealing money."
"No."
He pushed the folder toward me.
"But I signed transfers without reading them because Vanessa told me they were acquisition payments."
I stared at him.
"You authorized seven million dollars because your mistress handed you paperwork?"
He looked ashamed.
"Yes."
I almost laughed from disbelief.
"How did you run a billion-dollar company?"
"Very well."
"Apparently."
He accepted that.
"Charles knew my weakness."
"Vanessa?"
"No."
Marcus looked at me.
"You."
I frowned.
"He knew I was terrified of losing the company because I thought losing the company meant losing the one thing that made me worthy of you."
For years Marcus had behaved as if Sinclair belonged to him.
Now I saw something underneath that arrogance.
Insecurity.
It didn't excuse anything.
But it explained something.
"My father chose you."
Marcus shook his head.
"Your father tolerated me."
"No."
I showed him one of Richard's letters.
Marcus read it silently.
Marcus is imperfect.
He wants power too much because he grew up without any.
But when forced to choose between Amelia and the company, I believe he will eventually choose Amelia.
Marcus's eyes filled.
"He was wrong."
"Last night, yes."
I looked at him.
"Tomorrow is another choice."
At the board meeting, directors demanded both our resignations.
The chairman spoke for twenty minutes.
Markets had lost confidence.
Lenders had frozen financing.
Federal investigators were examining transactions.
Then Marcus stood.
"I accept full responsibility."
I turned toward him.
He continued.
"Amelia Sinclair had no knowledge of the Blue Meridian transfers."
One director interrupted.
"You can't prove that."
Marcus placed a drive on the table.
"I can."
Every transfer approval contained a private biometric log.
Marcus had found backups in his personal executive archive.
His fingerprint.
His retinal confirmation.
His voice authorization.
Mine never appeared.
"I acted negligently."
He looked directly at the board.
"Remove me."
The chairman asked, "And Mrs. Vale?"
Marcus shook his head.
"She stays."
A director laughed.
"This company is collapsing."
Marcus looked around the room.
"No."
His voice grew firm.
"I was collapsing."
Then he looked at me.
"I confused being trusted with being entitled."
Silence followed.
The board voted.
Six wanted both of us removed.
Six wanted me retained.
A tie.
Under company rules, the deciding vote belonged to the largest secondary beneficiary.
Vanessa Sinclair.
Every head turned toward her.
She sat at the far end of the table.
For years, she had wanted what I had.
May you like
Now she had the power to take it.
Vanessa slowly stood.
