Chapter 7 - DOMINIC WALKED INTO THE BOARDROOM ONLY AFTER ADRIAN INVITED HIM
The federal investigation needed historical context on Moretti governance.
Dominic became a witness.
Not defendant.
Not executive.
Witness.
He had worked inside company during early reform years.
His old notes about Thomas mattered.
Prosecutors requested interview.
He cooperated.
Then board outside counsel asked whether Dominic would testify in internal hearing about Thomas’s hiring process.
Adrian had no say legally.
But Dominic asked anyway.
“Do you want me there?”
Adrian looked at Claire.
She did not answer.
His choice.
“Yes.”
He said.
“Boardroom only.”
“No home.”
“Understood.”
Dominic entered Moretti headquarters for first time in more than a decade.
Employees stared.
Some knew story.
The brother who had secretly tampered with Adrian’s sleep.
The man who once nearly took control.
Now wearing no badge.
Visitor pass.
Security escort like anyone.
He looked at Adrian across board table.
“Hello.”
“Dominic.”
No hug.
Fine.
Patricia conducted.
Dominic explained Thomas’s early reputation.
Brilliant.
Aggressive.
Obsessed with performance metrics.
He had once proposed reducing injury “recordables” by centralizing definitions through executive review.
Dominic objected then not because worker advocate.
Because he feared regulatory exposure.
Important.
No rewriting self as hero.
“Did you think Thomas dangerous?”
“No.”
“Did you think unethical?”
“I thought he could become unethical if bonuses aligned badly.”
“Did you formally document?”
“In notebook.”
“Not HR?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I was losing authority.”
“I had credibility issues.”
Understatement.
Patricia:
“Because you were committing misconduct against Adrian?”
Dominic looked at brother.
“Yes.”
No euphemism.
Good.
“So your warning was not carried.”
“No.”
“Could Adrian reasonably have treated you as compromised?”
“Yes.”
“Do you blame him?”
“No.”
This mattered.
Thomas’s attorney later tried to argue Dominic invented concern to revenge Adrian’s replacement executives.
Weak.
Notes timestamped.
Still.
After hearing, Dominic waited in lobby.
Adrian could leave separately.
Instead he approached.
“Coffee?”
Dominic looked surprised.
“Here?”
“No.”
Neutral café.
Of course.
They sat.
Dominic stirred coffee without drinking.
Adrian noticed.
Tea history makes everything stupid.
Then Dominic said:
“You look tired.”
Adrian laughed.
“Careful.”
“I mean normal tired.”
“Better.”
Silence.
Then:
“Did this bring it back?”
“Yes.”
“The fear?”
“Yes.”
Dominic’s face tightened.
“I am sorry.”
“Not your responsibility now.”
“Some.”
“No.”
Adrian looked.
“You caused old wound.”
“You do not cause every time it aches.”
Dominic’s eyes filled.
That sentence had taken years.
He nodded.
Then:
“You trust Claire.”
“Yes.”
“Lily.”
“Yes.”
“Board?”
Adrian hesitated.
“Enough.”
Dominic smiled.
“That is more than you trusted anyone.”
“Do you trust me?”
Long silence.
“Some ways.”
Dominic swallowed.
“Which?”
“I trust you to tell truth about what you did now.”
“That’s something.”
“Yes.”
“Would you trust me with your tea?”
Adrian stared.
Dominic realized joke bad.
Then Adrian laughed.
Actually laughed.
“No.”
Dominic laughed too.
People nearby had no idea.
Good.
Then Dominic said:
“I don’t want back in company.”
“I know.”
“Sometimes press says this proves you should have kept family.”
“They’re idiots.”
“Agreed.”
Dominic leaned forward.
“Thomas proves family isn’t only source of betrayal.”
“No.”
“Systems still fail.”
“Yes.”
“Does that make you regret shutting family authority?”
“No.”
Immediate.
“Why?”
“Because you hurt me because you were family.”
“Thomas hurt company despite not being.”
“Different controls needed.”
Dominic nodded.
“Good.”
Adrian glared.
Everyone used word.
Then internal review revealed board chair Rachel Donovan? Wait we had Patricia as independent director and safety committee. Let's keep Patricia as lead independent director, Rachel as CEO maybe not used much. Fine.
The company’s CEO, Rachel Donovan, announced she would not seek contract renewal.
Not because implicated.
Because scandal consumed tenure.
Adrian tried to convince? He asked once.
“Do you want stay?”
“No.”
“Then okay.”
Good.
No forcing.
Board launched search.
Some shareholders demanded Adrian resume CEO.
He declined.
Why?
“Because company’s problem is not lack of Moretti at center.”
There.
Evelyn? let's introduce Mara Chen as new CEO eventually, maybe later.
Terminal 12 cleanup cost estimate:
$86 million.
Worker medical and legal reserves:
$120 million preliminary.
Contract losses:
$170 million.
Serious.
Moretti could survive.
But not without pain.
Dividend zero.
Two acquisitions sold.
Executive bonuses clawed back.
Thomas’s incentive canceled.
Workers at other terminals anxious.
Adrian proposed personal severance fund if layoffs.
Board allowed separate charitable assistance but warned not to undermine union processes.
So he funded an independent worker-transition nonprofit with $20 million, no control, open to all laid-off Moretti workers if restructuring occurred.
Fine.
Then Lily confronted.
“Why?”
“Because jobs may go.”
“Guilt?”
“Partly.”
“Control?”
“No.”
“Name on building?”
“No.”
She nodded.
“Okay.”
No good.
She had matured.
The actual layoffs ended smaller than feared because sold assets transferred employees.
Two hundred lost positions.
Still real.
Adrian met one laid-off dispatcher at parking garage by chance.
She recognized.
“You kept billions.”
“Yes.”
“I lost health insurance.”
“COBRA support from fund.”
“That is not same.”
“No.”
“Do you think paying workers makes you good?”
“No.”
She walked away.
He let.
At home Claire asked:
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Do you need reassurance?”
“No.”
Good.
May you like
Maybe adulthood is learning not every hurt deserves comfort from people closest.
Some needs simply sit.
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