CHAPTER 2: Every Phone Rang
CHAPTER 2: Every Phone Rang
The first ringtone echoed from the far end of the table.
Then another.
And another.
Within three seconds, every executive, director, and senior manager in the room was staring at a vibrating phone.
No two ringtones were the same.
Yet they rang together with eerie precision.
The laughter vanished.
Brendan frowned as he glanced at his screen.
His face drained of color.
URGENT: MANDATORY EXECUTIVE NOTICE
Protocol 7 Activated
Attendance Required Immediately
"What the..."
Across the table, Diane answered her phone.
"This is Diane Harrison."
She listened.
Then laughed.
"There must be some mistake. I'm the acting chairwoman."
The voice on the other end interrupted her.
"We're aware of your position, Mrs. Harrison."
"Your executive authority has been suspended effective immediately."
"What?"
"The majority shareholder has exercised emergency control under Article Seven of the corporate charter."
Diane slowly lowered the phone.
Her hands shook.
Around the room, identical conversations unfolded.
"No... that's impossible."
"There has to be an error."
"Who authorized this?"
Every answer was the same.
"The majority shareholder."
Jessica looked nervously at Brendan.
"What does that mean?"
Brendan swallowed hard.
"It means..."
His voice caught.
"It means whoever owns fifty-one percent of Harrison Global has taken control."
"But I thought your family owned the company."
"We own shares."
He stared blankly ahead.
"We don't own the majority."
A heavy silence settled over the room.
For decades, everyone had speculated about the anonymous controlling shareholder.
No one had ever met them.
No one even knew whether the owner was a man or a woman.
Only the board's legal counsel knew the truth.
And they had never spoken.
My phone remained silent.
May you like
It didn't need to ring.
I already knew what every caller was saying.
