Chapter 6 - The Manager’s Vote
The venue manager stared at the document.
“I don’t own the company.”
Emma nodded.
“You don’t.”
“You hold the employees’ deciding vote until they elect a permanent council.”
Victoria laughed.
“This is absurd.”
The manager looked at her.
“You trusted me to protect a mansion worth hundreds of millions.”
A pause.
“But not to protect the people who paid for it.”
He activated the emergency clause.
The housing sale froze.
Victoria’s father’s investment firm lost access to the property records.
Ethan’s emergency proxy was suspended.
Employee wages, repairs and retirement payments remained protected.
Victoria’s phone began displaying failed authorizations.
“You froze my family’s deal.”
The manager answered quietly.
“No.”
“The workers’ trust rejected it.”
Emma requested an immediate employee vote.
Hotel staff joined remotely from kitchens, laundry rooms, front desks and maintenance offices.
People the wedding guests rarely noticed now appeared on the ballroom screens.
A retired housekeeper spoke first.
“My husband and I contributed every paycheck for thirty-one years.”
A night engineer held up old payroll deductions.
A banquet server explained that her mother faced eviction if the sale closed.
The vote was overwhelming.
The employees rejected the sale.
They demanded permanent board representation.
Ethan supported the motion.
Victoria stared at him.
“You are choosing employees over your wife?”
He looked at the woman he had almost married.
“No.”
“I am choosing the owners you tried to erase.”
Then the trust system issued another alert.
May you like
The employee fund had already paid thirty-eight million dollars to Victoria’s family.
The payment carried Emma’s signature.
