The transaction had been heavily promoted.
A closing timetable had been circulated.
And Graham had assured investors that only final approvals remained.
Now the board had stopped.
Questions followed.
By morning, an anonymous source described the interruption as an administrative discrepancy.
Another suggested that an employee had made an unfounded accusation during the meeting.
Then a business columnist received a tip claiming that a housekeeping worker had entered the boardroom and falsely represented herself as the daughter of Northstar's founder.
Naomi saw the article while eating breakfast beside her mother.
The headline didn't name her.
But the description was unmistakable.
Elena read it slowly.
Then looked toward Naomi.
“Is that what happened?”
Naomi shook her head.
“No.”
Her mother placed the phone on the table.
For a moment, she seemed angry.
Then she took her daughter's hand.
“Do they know who you are?”
Naomi laughed sadly.
“They're trying very hard not to.”
Elena's eyes filled.
She looked toward Samuel's photograph on the shelf.
Then whispered.
“He was afraid of that.”
Naomi frowned.
“Afraid of what?”
Her mother turned back.
“Of people who would spend more effort making you seem insignificant than answering the questions you asked.”
Naomi remained quiet.
For a moment, she thought about Graham's finger inches from her face.
His laughter.
The men who avoided her eyes.
And Arthur's sudden expression when he recognized Elena's name.
Then she looked toward her mother.
“Did Dad really think I could protect the trust?”
Elena nodded.
“He thought you had something he was losing.”
Naomi frowned.
“What?”
Her mother smiled sadly.
“The ability to tell powerful people no.”
For several seconds, Naomi stared.
Then she laughed through tears.
“I don't feel very powerful right now.”
Elena reached for her hand.
“You don't have to.”
Arthur Bellamy spent the next morning in a private conference room with the independent legal team retained by a special committee of Northstar's board.
The committee included directors without an apparent personal financial interest in Graham's proposed transaction. Its role was to examine the consent problem, review the relevant governance provisions, and recommend what the board should do next.
The lawyers began with the document history.
They obtained the preserved drafts, execution records, legal correspondence, and related material through the company's authorized systems.
Then they compared the versions.
The signature problem was immediately apparent.
An early draft referred generally to the founder's prior commitments.