Chapter 42 - The Price of a Vote
Marcus Vane changed strategy.
He could not take Lydia's trust votes.
There were none.
He could not force the trust to split its fifty-one percent block.
Henry's documents prevented it.
He could not use the disputed contract amendment.
The court suspended it pending investigation.
So Vane did what he did best.
He bought influence somewhere else.
Carter Global's public shareholders.
Vane Capital announced it had accumulated a 7.8 percent economic position through shares and derivatives.
He nominated three directors.
He demanded the removal of CEO Miriam Sloan.
He demanded an end to the stewardship trust's “anti-democratic control.”
Financial television loved it.
Vane called himself a reformer.
Noah almost admired the irony.
A man who secretly paid a trust council member now campaigned for transparency.
The annual meeting became a battlefield.
Except the Carter family no longer controlled the battlefield alone.
The trust held fifty-one percent.
But stewardship rules required the council to evaluate director nominees independently.
No automatic Carter position.
No automatic management vote.
Vane knew that.
He began lobbying the four remaining council members publicly.
Helen Ward refused private meetings.
The others followed.
Then one received a threat.
Not physical.
Professional.
Dr. Michael Chen, a pension expert on the council, discovered an anonymous complaint had been filed with his university alleging research misconduct.
Two days later, a reporter called about it.
Michael had never been accused before.
Helen hired independent investigators.
The complaint was fabricated.
Attached documents had been altered.
Noah heard and felt sick.
Another false document.
This family could not escape them.
“Can we prove Vane did it?” he asked.
“No,” Helen said.
Noah laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
Then Daniel noticed something.
The false research complaint contained a citation style used in one of Vane Capital's consulting reports.
Not proof.
But a lead.
Regulators subpoenaed more communications.
Vane's public tone grew more aggressive.
At the same time, he contacted Lydia privately.
She immediately called Melissa.
Then Noah.
“He offered me eighty million dollars.”
Noah stared.
“For what?”
“My future trust distributions.”
“Buyout?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“A public statement supporting his board slate.”
Noah's expression hardened.
“What did you say?”
“Nothing.”
“Good.”
“He says it's more money than I'll receive for years.”
“Maybe.”
“He says I should think independently from you.”
Noah laughed.
“That's rich.”
Lydia became quiet.
Then:
“Eighty million is a lot.”
Noah stopped.
He did not judge her.
It was a lot.
For Noah, money had always existed around him.
For Lydia, eight months ago, $3.2 million in litigation funding had looked impossible.
Now someone offered eighty.
“What do you want?”
“I don't know.”
“Then don't decide today.”
“What would you do?”
Noah looked out the window.
“I don't know.”
“You've rejected money before.”
“No.”
Noah corrected her.
“I've rejected control.”
“That isn't the same?”
“No.”
He sat.
“If you want eighty million because you want eighty million, that's your decision.”
Lydia was silent.
“If you take it because you're afraid Vane can take everything unless you obey him, that's different.”
Another silence.
“You sound like Daniel.”
“Terrible news.”
Lydia laughed.
Then asked:
“What if I support his directors?”
“Then support them.”
“You won't be angry?”
“I might disagree.”
“That's not what I asked.”
Noah smiled.
She had learned his habit.
“No.”
He answered.
“I won't be angry because you vote differently.”
A pause.
“That's what my grandmother never understood.”
Lydia rejected Vane's offer the next morning.
Not because Noah told her to.
Her written response was one sentence.
May you like
I am not selling my first independent opinion to the person who financed it before I had one.
Marcus Vane never replied.
