Chapter 5 - THE BOARD PACKET
Naomi moved fast.
Not dramatically.
Professionally.
That terrified Brett more.
Audrey requested full board materials related to related-party transactions, IP licensing, trademarks, and new entities involving executives.
She had the right.
So did the other directors.
The documents arrived forty-eight hours later.
Incomplete.
That was problem one.
Naomi sent a preservation notice.
Then more documents arrived.
Problem two:
Sierra had been paid a “brand development bonus” connected to concepts based on Audrey’s legacy menu work.
Problem three:
Brett had authorized consulting payments to Holloway Legacy Concepts before formal board approval.
Problem four:
A draft investor presentation described Audrey as “Founder Emeritus.”
She was forty.
And currently working.
Audrey stared at the phrase.
Founder Emeritus.
A polite corporate funeral.
---
The board meeting happened Thursday.
No Micah.
No cameras.
Good.
This belonged to adults.
Brett arrived with his attorney.
Sierra attended for the first twenty minutes as brand director.
Audrey sat opposite them.
Charles Levin opened.
“We have concerns regarding undisclosed related-party activity.”
Brett immediately said:
“This is being inflated because of a marital dispute.”
Audrey did not speak.
Naomi had advised her:
Let him be the first person to make governance personal.
He did.
Charles’s expression hardened.
“This meeting concerns company governance.”
Sierra looked at Brett.
He continued:
“Holloway Legacy was exploratory.”
Anita Brooks asked:
“Then why did it receive payments?”
Silence.
Marcus Shaw asked:
“Why was Ms. Finch Holloway not disclosed as a source contributor for the legacy menu assets?”
Brett said:
“The recipes belong to the company.”
Naomi finally spoke.
“Some may. Some may not.”
She placed copies of Opal’s original notebooks on the table.
Dated.
Photographed.
Witnessed.
Audrey’s own notebooks too.
Brett stared.
For the first time in fifteen years, he looked like the young man from the first restaurant again.
Scared.
But this time Audrey did not want to rescue him.
---
The board did not fire Brett that day.
Reality rarely moves that neatly.
Instead:
Independent review.
Suspension of the proposed licensing transaction.
Freeze on payments to Holloway Legacy.
Outside counsel.
Audit of related-party expenses.
Sierra placed on paid administrative leave pending review.
Brett remained CEO temporarily with limits on unilateral transaction authority.
Not revenge.
Process.
Audrey preferred it.
May you like
Processes leave records.
---
