Ethan reached for the folder, but Harlan calmly pulled it back. “That would be unwise.”
Lauren looked between us, unsettled. “I didn’t know about the financial stuff,” she said quietly. “He told me you didn’t want children. That you cared more about money than family.”
I almost smiled at the irony.
“I wanted children,” I said evenly. “Ethan wanted control.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened. “You’re not perfect.”
“No,” I replied. “But I am finished.”
He stood abruptly. “You don’t understand what you’re doing. If you interfere with the company, people will lose jobs.”
“That’s why I’ll appoint an independent CEO,” I said. “Like your mother directed.”
His eyes narrowed. “You’re actually going to follow through?”
I remembered Margaret gripping my wrist at dinner months ago, whispering, Pay attention. I’d thought she was being dramatic.
She hadn’t been.
She’d been preparing.