The boardroom incident had injured her.
Not catastrophically.
Still.
A person did not need permanent trauma for humiliation to matter.
She eventually worked with a therapist.
Privately.
No scandal.
No dramatic breakdown.
Just work.
One session, she said:
“I’m embarrassed that I was embarrassed.”
The therapist asked:
“Why?”
“Because he was wrong.”
“Why would someone else being wrong eliminate your embarrassment?”
She had no answer.
Good therapy often annoyed her.
18
Her daughter first saw the boardroom video at seven.
A classmate showed her.
The child came home angry.
“Why did that man hate you?”
The investor sat.
“He didn’t know me well enough to hate me.”
“Then why was he mean?”
“He made assumptions.”
“Because you’re Black?”
“Partly.”
“Because you’re a woman?”
“Probably partly.”
“Because you wore shorts?”
The investor almost laughed.
“Possibly.”
Her husband looked away to hide his smile.
The daughter asked:
“Did you make him poor?”
“No.”
“But you took a billion dollars.”
“I withdrew an investment.”
“Same thing.”
“No.”
The child frowned.
Adults always ruined simple stories.
The investor continued:
“He lost his job later because investigators found other problems.”
“So you didn’t fire him?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because his board had to decide.”
The daughter looked disappointed.
“You should’ve fired him.”
The investor smiled.
“Maybe you should watch cartoons.”
The child nodded.
Much easier.
Years later, the daughter would understand.
At seven, she needed a villain.
That was okay.
Complexity could wait.
19
The investor’s mother aged.
Her hair became white.
Her knees hurt.
Her opinions became no less forceful.
At eighty-one, she refused to stop driving.
The investor argued.
Her mother said:
“You own companies, not me.”
The investor stared.
“That’s your argument?”
“Yes.”
“It’s terrible.”
“It’s constitutionally sound.”
“You almost hit a mailbox.”
“The mailbox was poorly placed.”
Eventually they compromised.
Daytime driving only.
Then no highways.
Then stopped entirely after a medical evaluation.
The investor learned something.
Power over someone you love could still become control if fear replaced conversation.
She remembered the boardroom.
Different scale.
Different intention.
Same human temptation.
I know better, therefore I decide for you.
Sometimes necessary.
Often dangerous.