Page 106 of Game of Revenge
When we walked in the meeting room at Hotel Estrellas headquarters, the nine directors were all staring at me, clearly uncomfortable. Steve came to welcome me.
I felt like I was in a haze, my brain doing its best to protect me from any sort of strong emotions. I was at my wits’ end, but this was the time to change my life. I recalled always being in awe but also intimidated by those huge conference rooms, everyone sitting around a vast thirty-person, rectangular, gray marble conference table, the high-tech room being used for important meetings.
“I called this special meeting today,” I stated, “because this past week has been a revelation. I am sure that at least some of you feel the same way. Richard’s arrest has caused a lot of issues in my personal life, and I imagine that it hasn’t been easy here either.”
I paused for emphasis.
“I am not one to waste my time with pleasantries, so I am going to cut to the chase.” I paused again. “Richard has managed to fool me, and he’s managed to fool at least some of you, by pretending to be a good and honest man. I want to say that he took my money from me, but that doesn’t feel right as I had no idea it was mine in the first place, and I did nothing to deserve such a windfall. I wasn’t allowed to. He never wanted me around here too much, and now I know why. He was an awful father, owner, and man, but I don’t want to dwell on the past. I just want to focus on the future.”
“Well said, Amelia. Well said. And I want to add—”
“I am not done, Charles,” I said, giving the man who had interrupted me a cold stare.
He silently sat back down, a look of exasperation and surprise on his face.
“As some of you might know, even if Richard has presented me to you as the capricious little girl he took care of, I do have ambitions, and I have the required preparation to manage my own affairs in this company. I do have an MBA from Stanford, and I did work at companies before, in managerial positions. I know my rights, and I know what our bylaws authorize me to do and not do. While I don’t think I have the right experience for what used to be Richard’s position, I do believe that I have the experience and frankly the right to belong on this board. Richard fooled me, but he also fooled all of you. You were comfortable enough believing his tales. Never once did it occur to any of you that Richard was taking advantage of me, that I might have any interest in what was rightfully mine. His tax attorney was on this board as of a few days ago—until I sued him, of course.”
I took another pause, letting it sink in that I was coming for any other accomplices.
“I won't discuss why you were so comfortable believing him, how you enjoyed his yacht parties, his eccentric trips, the ridiculous donations he has made to Claude's private accounts from mine. It is very clear to me that there was enough there to cause concern, and while some of you really didn’t know, others turned a blind eye, and I do think the outcome would have been different had you seen me as an equal.”
I looked at the distorted faces around the room.
“I take responsibility for having been foolish, but some of you were purposefully ignorant. I ask that we put a special independent committee in place to investigate our books, our minutes, and our records. We are under scrutiny now as a company, but I won’t let my mother’s legacy be destroyed by greed.”
Once I established my strength and frankly my anger and disgust, I could see a few of these men struggling to pay attention and becoming a bit nervous. But Steve was encouraging me, backing me up in every decision. The meeting lasted four long hours. The other shareholders and I added me to the board, and the board voted on a temporary CEO. I pushed for Steve while we handled the investigation and the public image of Hotel Estrellas.
There was a lot of work to be done. I assigned Nicholas as my temporary representative. Nicholas had enough work on his plate in his complex law practice, but he agreed to do me the favor.
My mental health was more important, and I needed some time away before I was ready to take the reins of my future. I needed to heal. Nicholas wouldn’t make any decisions without my consent, but all I wanted to do for the next two weeks was disconnect as much as I could, let Nicholas bother me when needed. Chloe would also be involved, as I wanted her to handle the corporate governance aspect of this company going forward. For now, though, I had to focus on myself.
Chapter 52
Amelia
I’m still in California, Amelia. I’m not going anywhere.
I paused that morning, my heart in shambles, rebelling against me for not answering any of Alejandro’s texts. That morning, I had found two bouquets at the front door. They were Dahlia’s, so I knew they were from him. I couldn’t throw them away, so I put them in water and allowed my heart a minute to enjoy them.
That day, I had the energy to have what promised to be the hardest encounter to date. I had decided that I needed to go see Richard and confront him.
Nicholas came to get me in the afternoon, and we drove together. The jail was a much worse experience than a hospital. I could feel all the hair on my neck rise. I was very uncomfortable with the idea of being surrounded by certain people who had broken the social contract. When they took me and Nico to see Richard, I almost walked back to the car, but I could no longer be a coward. I had to face my fears.
“You came!” said Richard, and he got up from the table he was sitting at in the visitation room.
“I did,” I said, keeping my distance.
This wasn’t a social visit. We both sat down at opposing ends of the square table.
“Amelia, I can’t imagine how you must feel, but I...it…it was a mistake. I didn’t know that man was there…I thought he was one more of those lowlife fucks…”
“You have no right to take anyone’s life like that, Richard, no matter who they are. That’s part of what is wrong with you, what’s broken inside of you. This false sense of self, this chip on your shoulder, making you want to prove to the world and yourself that you are better than others. I think you actually managed to convince yourself of that, of your superiority. That delusion made you decide that it was okay to take what wasn’t yours, that it was okay to kill, that it was okay to steal from me and treat me like your fucking charity case.”
Richard’s face was distorted. He looked shocked and horrified. This was the first time I ever saw him cry. Part of me wanted to grab his hand, console him. After all, he was the only father I ever knew. But he didn’t deserve it. He didn’t deserve whatever love was left in me for him.
“I just wanted a better life.”
“You were a cartel member, weren’t you?”