Chapter 5 - The Vote
Someone signed away my life
The board meeting was scheduled for 8:00 a.m.
I arrived at 7:42.
Every light in the conference room was already on.
Seven board members sat around the table.
Mark sat at the head.
That was my first warning.
The second was Patricia.
She was sitting beside him.
The third was Sam.
He was standing near the window.
I stopped in the doorway.
“What is this?”
Mark smiled.
“Emergency board meeting.”
“I wasn't notified.”
“You were.”
“When?”
“Last night.”
“No.”
He looked at the others.
“Apparently she doesn't remember.”
I walked to the table.
“Who called this meeting?”
Mark raised a document.
“The board.”
“Which board?”
“The executive board.”
“I am the executive director.”
“Not after today.”
Silence.
A woman named Sharon cleared her throat.
“Clare, please sit.”
I remained standing.
“What exactly are you voting on?”
Mark pushed a folder toward me.
“Administrative transition.”
I opened it.
The first page was a resolution.
Removal of Executive Director.
Reason:
Financial mismanagement.
I laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because my brain couldn't process it.
“Financial mismanagement?”
Mark nodded.
“Several irregularities have been identified.”
“By whom?”
“An independent review.”
“Show me.”
He slid another document across the table.
An audit summary.
My name was highlighted.
The figures showed unauthorized transfers totaling $186,400.
My stomach turned.
“I didn't do this.”
No one answered.
“I didn't.”
Sharon looked uncomfortable.
“We don't know who did.”
Mark leaned back.
“But we know the authorizations came through your account.”
“My account?”
He pointed.
“Electronic approvals.”
“I didn't approve them.”
“Then someone used your credentials.”
“Exactly.”
He smiled.
“Which is why we need new leadership.”
I looked around the table.
Three people avoided my eyes.
Two looked directly at me.
One looked terrified.
And one was crying.
Denise.
She had been invited.
I hadn't known.
“Denise?”
She shook her head.
“I'm sorry.”
I looked at her.
“Did you vote?”
She couldn't answer.
Mark did.
“She did.”
My chest tightened.
“Against me?”
Denise covered her face.
I turned toward Sharon.
“How many votes?”
“Five.”
I stared at them.
“My vote?”
Mark answered.
“Was counted.”
“What?”
He pushed another paper toward me.
A signed proxy.
My signature.
Authorizing Patricia Lorraine Bennett to vote on my behalf.
I stared at the signature.
It looked perfect.
Too perfect.
I looked at Patricia.
“You forged this.”
She said nothing.
Mark spoke for her.
“Careful.”
“No.”
I held up the paper.
“This is a criminal act.”
Patricia's face tightened.
Mark stood.
“Enough.”
“No.”
My voice became stronger.
“You've been stealing from my organization.”
“We have not.”
“You forged my signature.”
“You signed it.”
“I did not.”
“You're under stress.”
I looked at the board.
“You're watching him lie.”
No one moved.
Then the crying board member spoke.
“Clare... I saw Mark bring the document.”
Everyone turned toward her.
Mark's face changed.
“You don't know what you're talking about.”
“I saw him.”
Sharon stood.
“Enough.”
“No.”
The woman pushed back her chair.
“I don't care anymore.”
She looked at me.
“Three weeks ago, Mark told us you were planning to resign.”
My stomach dropped.
“I was?”
“He said you were ill.”
I stared at Mark.
“I never said that.”
“He said you wanted a quiet retirement.”
Mark's expression became cold.
“That conversation is irrelevant.”
“No.”
I turned to him.
“It's everything.”
He stepped toward me.
“You're emotional.”
“I'm furious.”
“Because you're being exposed.”
“No.”
I pointed at the proxy.
“Because someone is trying to steal my organization.”
Patricia stood.
“This organization belongs to the family.”
I stared at her.
“No.”
She smiled.
“It was built in this house.”
“It was built in a church basement.”
“With Mark.”
“Then thank him.”
Her face tightened.
“But don't confuse helping me paint a wall with owning the women who walk through it.”
For the first time, Mark looked genuinely angry.
He grabbed the folder.
“This meeting is over.”
“No.”
A voice came from the doorway.
Everyone turned.
Evelyn Grant stood there.
Behind her were two attorneys.
One held a laptop.
The other carried three boxes.
Evelyn looked directly at Mark.
“I disagree.”
Mark went pale.
“You weren't invited.”
“No.”
She smiled.
“But the foundation I represent owns forty-two percent of the funding agreements attached to Second Chapter House.”
Sharon stared.
“What?”
Evelyn placed a document on the table.
“You may vote to remove Clare.”
She looked at the board.
“But you cannot use our grants as leverage.”
Mark stepped forward.
“You're interfering.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I financed the program you are trying to dismantle.”
Mark laughed.
“You think money gives you authority?”
“No.”
Evelyn opened one of the boxes.
“Evidence does.”
She removed a binder.
Then another.
Then another.
“Twenty-two months of financial records.”
Mark's face went white.
Evelyn turned to me.
“And one forensic report.”
I didn't touch it.
“What's in it?”
“Everything your husband hoped you would never see.”
Mark stared at her.
“You don't know what you're doing.”
“I know exactly what I'm doing.”
She looked at him.
“And you know what surprises me, Mark?”
He said nothing.
“You've spent fourteen years underestimating Clare.”
Mark's face hardened.
Evelyn's voice became quiet.
“Just like you did with your first wife.”
The room froze.
Sharon looked at Mark.
“What first wife?”
Mark turned toward Evelyn.
“You promised.”
“I promised not to expose you until Clare was ready.”
I felt every eye in the room move toward me.
I whispered:
“Ready for what?”
Evelyn looked at me.
“To learn why Lorraine Bennett disappeared.”
She opened the binder.
On the first page was a photograph of a teenage girl.
Maya.
But beneath it was another photograph.
A woman.
A much younger Mark.
And a date.
Twenty-four years ago.
The date was three weeks before my wedding.
Evelyn slid the photograph toward me.
I looked at the woman standing beside Mark.
Then I whispered:
“She's not Lorraine.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.”
“Who is she?”
Evelyn's eyes met mine.
“Your husband's first victim.”
The room went silent.
May you like
And then Mark said the one thing that made my blood run cold.
“Clare, you need to hear my side before she tells you what happened.”
