Chapter 7 - MY COMPANY’S BOARD ASKED WHETHER I WAS “TOO DISTRACTED” TO REMAIN CEO
Betrayal didn't stop at home.
Three months after the assault, two members of Bennett Advisory's board requested a private meeting.
They were concerned.
Not about me.
About optics.
One cleared his throat.
“Claire, you've been through significant personal trauma.”
“Yes.”
“And the criminal proceedings are becoming public.”
“Yes.”
“We wonder whether temporary leave might protect the firm.”
I stared.
“You want me to step down.”
“Temporarily.”
“Because my husband stole from me.”
“Because investors value stability.”
I smiled.
“Do they?”
“Of course.”
“Then why would removing the person who discovered and stopped an eight-million-dollar fraud increase stability?”
Silence.
Another director shifted.
“This isn't personal.”
“Everything people say right before making something personal.”
I stood.
Then placed three folders on the table.
Quarterly revenue.
Client retention.
New contracts.
Despite everything, Bennett Advisory had grown nine percent.
I had worked from hospital appointments.
Therapy sessions.
Lawyer meetings.
Not because work mattered more than healing.
Because Daniel did not get to steal my identity as well as my money.
“If this board wants to remove me,” I said, “take a vote.”
Nobody moved.
“Take it.”
They did.
Two votes for temporary leave.
Six against.
I remained CEO.
Then I made a change.
I replaced both dissenting directors when their terms expired.
Not revenge.
Governance.
May you like
I wanted people who understood that a woman surviving violence wasn't a corporate liability.
The man committing it was.
