For exactly nine minutes, nothing happened.
That was what made Brendan laugh.
He leaned back in his chair and looked around the table.
“Well,” he said, “I guess your little performance is over.”
Nobody laughed this time.
Not even Jessica.
She was staring at me.
“Cassidy,” she said carefully, “what exactly did you just do?”
I picked up my napkin and wiped a drop of water from my cheek.
“Nothing.”
Brendan scoffed.
“Then why did you call Arthur?”
I looked at the clock.
“Because Arthur doesn’t waste time.”
Diane rolled her eyes.
“Oh, please. Arthur is a lawyer. He works for the company. He doesn’t work for you.”
I smiled.
“You’re right.”
She looked satisfied.
Then every phone at the table started ringing.
One after another.
Brendan’s.
Diane’s.
Jessica’s.
Then the phones of the two Morrison cousins sitting near the end of the table.
Brendan frowned and looked at his screen.
His smile disappeared.
“What the hell?”
Diane reached for her phone.
“What is it?”
Brendan didn’t answer.
He opened the email.
I watched his eyes move across the screen.
Then his face went pale.
“What’s wrong?” Jessica asked.
He looked at her.
“They froze my corporate accounts.”
Diane laughed nervously.
“That’s impossible.”
Brendan shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at the message again.
“It’s not just mine.”
Jessica leaned closer.
“What does it say?”
He swallowed.
“All Morrison family executive accounts are suspended pending an emergency ownership review.”
The room went silent.
Diane stared at me.
“You.”
I said nothing.
She stood.
“You did this?”
I picked up my glass of water.
“No.”
She looked confused.
“Then who did?”
My phone vibrated.
A message from Arthur appeared.
PROTOCOL 7 ACTIVE. PHASE ONE COMPLETE.
Underneath it was another message.
Do you want me to proceed with Phase Two?
I typed one word.
Yes.
Brendan’s phone rang.
He answered immediately.
“Hello?”
I could hear the panic in his voice.
“Yes, this is Brendan Morrison.”
He listened.
His expression changed.
“What do you mean the board is meeting?”
Another pause.
“Tonight?”
His eyes moved toward me.
“Who called the meeting?”
He stopped breathing for a second.
Then he whispered:
“The controlling shareholder?”
Everyone at the table looked at him.
Brendan slowly lowered the phone.
Diane’s voice trembled.
“Who is the controlling shareholder?”
He didn’t answer.
“Brendan?”
He looked at me.
For the first time since I’d known him, I saw fear in his eyes.
“Cassidy…”
I stood.
Water was still dripping from the ends of my hair.
“You wanted to know what Protocol 7 means.”
Nobody spoke.
I walked to the end of the table and placed both hands against the chair.
“Protocol 7 means the family privileges have ended.”
Diane stared at me.
“What family privileges?”
I looked at her.
“The company car.”
Her face tightened.
“The private accounts.”
She swallowed.
“The expense accounts.”
Jessica slowly lowered her phone.
“The executive housing.”
Brendan stood.
“Cassidy, stop.”
“And the Morrison family’s voting rights.”
His face went white.
“You can’t do that.”
I tilted my head.
“Can’t I?”
He looked at Diane.
Then back at me.
“You’re not an owner.”
I smiled.
“That is where you’ve been wrong for six years.”
Nobody moved.
I took my phone from the table.
“Arthur is going to send you the documents.”
Diane shook her head.
“No.”
Her voice was barely audible.
“No, no, no.”
She looked at Brendan.
“Tell her she’s lying.”
He couldn’t.
Because his phone had just received another email.
He opened it.
His hands started shaking.
“What is it?” Jessica asked.
He looked at me.
“Shareholder registry.”
I nodded.
“Keep reading.”
He stared at the screen.
Then whispered:
“Cassidy Vale.”
Diane’s chair scraped against the floor.
“That can’t be.”
Brendan looked up.
“She owns…”
He couldn’t finish.
I did it for him.
“Every controlling share.”
Silence.
“The company you all work for,” I said, “has belonged to me since before I ever met Brendan.”
Diane’s mouth fell open.
“You’re lying.”
I reached into my bag.
Not for my phone this time.
For a document.
I placed it on the table.
Arthur’s signature was at the bottom.
So was mine.
And beneath it was the ownership structure that had been hidden from the Morrison family for years.
Brendan stared at the page.
“You…”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
His voice broke.
“You were the anonymous shareholder?”
“Yes.”
“The one who approved the acquisitions?”
“Yes.”
“The one who rejected my proposal last year?”
I smiled.
“That was me too.”
Jessica looked between us.
“But why?”
That question finally made me angry.
Not because she asked.
Because I realized how much they had underestimated me.
I looked at the muddy water still covering my clothes.
“Because I wanted to know who you were when you thought I had nothing.”
Diane began crying.
“But we’re family.”
I looked at her.
“You poured dirty water over a pregnant woman in front of your family and laughed.”
Her tears continued.
“I didn’t know.”
“No,” I said quietly.
“You didn’t know I owned the company.”
I paused.
“But you knew I was carrying your grandchild.”
Nobody spoke.
I picked up my bag.
“And that should have been enough.”
Brendan stepped toward me.
“Cassidy, please.”
I stopped.
He looked broken now.
“Where are you going?”
I looked at him for a long moment.
“Home.”
His face crumpled.
“This is our home.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
I glanced around the dining room.
“You just showed me exactly what this place is.”
Then my phone vibrated again.
One final message from Arthur appeared.
PHASE TWO COMPLETE. PHASE THREE READY.
I stared at the screen.
Because Phase Three was the part I had never intended to use.
The part that would reveal why I had hidden my ownership in the first place.
And if I activated it…
Brendan wouldn’t just lose his position.
The entire Morrison family’s empire would collapse.
I looked at the message.
Then at the people around the table.
And typed:
Proceed.