Chapter 5 - The Fund
Adrian shook his head.
“That clause cannot be valid.”
Diane looked toward the corporate attorneys attending the gala.
“Then tell them to leave.”
No one moved.
Every attorney had already read the document on the ballroom screen.
The clause was valid.
Adrian’s grandfather had signed it during the company’s first restructuring because Diane refused to save the hotel without protections for workers.
The employee ownership fund was one of those protections.
The Cross family kept the promise until Diane was forced out.
Afterward, the deductions continued.
The shares did not.
Adrian turned toward the guests.
“This woman is using a decades-old technicality to steal a modern company.”
Diane’s voice remained steady.
“A technicality is what powerful people call a promise after poorer people ask them to keep it.”
A server lowered his champagne tray and looked directly at Adrian.
For the first time, Adrian looked away.
Diane activated the trust review.
Family dividends froze.
Executive bonuses froze.
Property sales froze.
Employee wages, health plans and pensions remained active.
Adrian stared at his phone as his accounts stopped updating.
“You froze my family’s money.”
“No.”
“I separated it from money belonging to workers.”
The screen displayed the first restitution order.
Eighty-six million dollars returned to the employee fund.
Interest raised the total to one hundred forty-three million.
Workers across forty-two hotels would receive restored accounts.
A restrained cheer moved through the ballroom.
Diane did not celebrate.
She looked toward Adrian.
“This is not revenge.”
He touched the locked screen of his phone.
“It feels like revenge.”
“That is because fairness feels like punishment when privilege is all you have known.”
Then a second alert appeared.
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The employee fund had been used for more than the ballroom.
It had financed Adrian’s private foundation.
