Chapter 15 - The Fall of Mercer Holdings
The board removed Charles permanently.
Drew was offered control.
He refused at first.
Then thousands of employees began writing to him.
People who had worked for Mercer Holdings for decades.
People whose retirement depended on the company surviving.
Drew reconsidered.
Claire told him not to decide based on fear.
“Do you want it?”
“I want to change it.”
“Then do that.”
Drew accepted temporary leadership.
His first act was to dismantle the secret executive structure Charles had created.
His second was to establish independent oversight.
His third was to remove the Mercer name from several charitable foundations and replace it with the names of the communities they served.
The press called it revolutionary.
Drew called it overdue.
Claire returned to work.
Not because she needed to.
Because she wanted to.
She eventually became events director for the same hospitality company where she had worked as a server.
People occasionally recognized her.
She hated that.
But gradually the headlines faded.
Life became ordinary.
Beautifully ordinary.
Then Drew received an invitation.
The hotel wanted them to attend another gala.
Same ballroom.
Same chandeliers.
Claire stared at the invitation.
“No.”
Drew laughed.
“Fair.”
Then she reconsidered.
For years she had allowed that ballroom to represent humiliation and fear.
Maybe it was time to change the memory.
“We’ll go.”
Drew raised an eyebrow.
“You sure?”
May you like
Claire smiled.
“I’m becoming sure about a lot of things.”
