My brother called me a financial idiot in front of two hundred wedding guests, and ten seconds later, my phone asked whether I wanted to remove him as CEO of his own company.
Chapter 2
When I walked back into the ballroom, Walter Grant was already reading my message.
He stood without a word.
One director followed him. Then another. By the time the photographer called for the Mercer family to gather around the cake, four members of Jason’s board had quietly left the reception.
Jason noticed.
“Where are they going?”
Nobody answered.
He took out his phone and called Walter. No response. He called again, then tried the company’s chief financial officer.
Straight to voicemail.
The color in Jason’s face changed.
I headed toward the elevators and found Linda Parker, one of the directors, waiting there with a leather folder.
“We have the revised cash reports,” she told me quietly.
“All of them?”
“Including the internal forecast.”
“Good.”
“Emily?”
I heard Jason behind us.
Linda and I turned.
Jason approached with an exaggerated smile because two of his executives had followed him into the hallway. “Getting free investing lessons at my wedding?”
Linda didn’t smile.
Neither did I.
Jason looked between us. “What’s going on?”
“This isn’t the place,” I said.
“For what?”
“Corporate governance.”
He laughed loudly.
“My sister learns one business phrase and suddenly she’s sitting on CNBC.”
Walter appeared at the end of the hallway.
Jason immediately crossed toward him. “Walter, why are directors leaving my reception?”
“An emergency board review has been authorized.”
The smile vanished from Jason’s face.
“By whom?”
Walter looked at me.
He didn’t say a word.
He didn’t need to.
Jason followed his eyes.
“No.”
Walter remained calm. “The review concerns management disclosures.”
“My disclosures are fine.”
“The board disagrees.”
Two executives standing behind Jason suddenly became fascinated with the carpet.
Walter continued. “Directors have identified acquisition losses that were not adequately disclosed, internal forecasts materially below projections provided to the board, discretionary executive spending inconsistent with current cash conditions, and proposed management bonuses while liquidity is tightening.”
Jason’s face turned red.
“You’re discussing confidential information at my wedding.”
“You demanded an explanation in a public hallway,” Walter replied.
Jason pointed at me. “She did this.”
“Jason—”
“You’ve been feeding them rumors.”
“They aren’t rumors when they’re taken from your financial statements.”
The words stopped him.
For the first time, I saw real fear.
“How have you seen internal financial statements?”
I didn’t answer.
Jason stepped closer. “Emily.”
Walter intervened. “That isn’t the immediate issue.”
“The immediate issue is that you’re holding some ridiculous investigation during my wedding.”
“The investigation began weeks ago.”
That was the sentence Jason wasn’t expecting.
His shoulders stiffened. “Then schedule whatever meeting you need after my honeymoon.”
“We cannot.”
“You can.”
“No.”
Jason stared at Walter as if nobody on earth had ever said that word to him.
Then his executive voice arrived, smooth and practiced. “I am chief executive officer of Mercer Dynamics.”
Walter nodded.
“The board is aware of your current position.”
Current.
Jason heard it too.
“This is about replacing me?”
Walter didn’t answer.
Jason glanced toward the ballroom doors. “My employees are in there. Investors are in there. You’re undermining me because my sister has decided to play businesswoman for the evening.”
Nobody laughed.
Finally Jason said, “Who gave you authority to do this?”
Walter looked at me again.
“The controlling vote.”
Jason stared at him.
“What controlling vote?”
Walter gestured toward a private conference room off the hallway. “We should continue this conversation inside.”
Jason opened the door himself.
The room was small, with a polished oak table and framed photographs of golf tournaments on the walls. Once Walter shut the door, the wedding music became a dull pulse behind us.
Jason faced him. “How many shares does she own?”
Walter placed the folder on the table.
“Jason—”
“Five percent? Ten? Did she buy through some little investment club and now thinks she can interfere with my company?”
Walter opened the corporate voting register.
“You asked for an explanation.”
Jason bent over the document.
His finger moved down the page.
Then stopped.
Harbor Ridge Capital Partners.
Again.
Harbor Ridge Capital Partners.
And again.
His expression slowly changed.
“Harbor Ridge?”
“Yes,” I said.
“The Harbor Ridge?”
I nodded.
The private investment firm that had appeared three years earlier when Mercer Dynamics was running out of cash. The firm Jason praised whenever someone asked how he’d saved the company.
He looked at me.
“You knew about Carson.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about the internal forecast.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about tonight’s board vote.”
“Yes.”
Jason studied my face.
Then something like relief passed over him.
“Oh.”
I almost laughed.
“You work for them.”
I said nothing.
“You’re an analyst.”
Walter glanced at me.
Jason continued eagerly. “Or compliance? Whatever. Okay. That explains it.”
He stepped closer, dropping his voice.
“This is actually useful.”
“For whom?”
“For everybody. You have access to Harbor Ridge. Call your boss.”
I stared at him.
“Excuse me?”
“Whoever runs the fund. Call them. Tell them this board action is unnecessary.”
Walter said, “Jason—”
“If Emily has a relationship there, she can fix this before it turns into something damaging.”
He looked at me like a man giving instructions to an assistant.
“Call your boss.”
Walter pulled another document from the folder.
“The board has completed its review.”
Jason turned. “I thought you said there was a meeting.”
“The vote has already taken place.”
Jason’s face went pale.
“What vote?”
“Six directors voted to recommend your immediate removal as chief executive. One voted against.”
Jason gripped a chair.
“You can’t fire me with a recommendation.”
“Correct.”
His confidence returned in a flash. “Exactly.”
“One final authorization is required under the shareholder agreement.”
“Then get it.”
Walter slid a single sheet of paper across the table.
Jason looked down.
HARBOR RIDGE CAPITAL PARTNERS
CONTROLLING VOTING SHAREHOLDER AUTHORIZATION
His eyes moved toward the signature line.
Then he stopped.
Printed beneath it was my full legal name.
Emily Rose Mercer.
