BLOOD AND BOARDROOMS

CRACKS IN THE ARMOR

POV: Celestine Michelle

Monday morning arrives too fast, and I have not slept in three days because I am too busy tracking down the truth about Michelle Francesca. I am anxious about seeing Benjamin Thaddeus again and I hate the feeling because he made me realize that my entire understanding of my family might be built on lies.

Stephen meets me outside Benjamin's building, despite telling him not to come, his lawyer face fixed in place like armor. "I do not like this, Celestine. Private negotiations without legal oversight is a terrible precedent."

"You mean you do not like that you cannot control it." The words come out sharper than intended, but I am too tired to soften them. "Stephen, I need you to trust me to do my job."

"I do trust you but I do not trust him." He gestures toward the gleaming building. "Benjamin Thaddeus has a reputation for getting inside people's heads, finding vulnerabilities and exploiting them. Promise me you will be careful."

"I promise." I kiss his cheek like I am playing a role someone else wrote. "I will call you after the meeting."

Valerie greets me again in a slightly warmer expression than last week, which probably means she has decided I am not a complete waste of her boss's time. "Benjamin is running ten minutes behind,he is in a last minute crisis with the development team. Can I offer you coffee while you wait?"

"Please." I follow her to a small break room that is nicer than most people's apartments, all marble countertops and expensive espresso machines. "Valerie, can I ask you something? How long have you worked for Mr. Thaddeus?"

"Six years." She pulls two espresso shots with practiced efficiency. "Since he started the company. Why?"

"Just curious about what kind of boss he is. The media makes him sound ruthless."

"He is ruthless when he needs to be. But he is also fair, loyal to people who earn it, and he does not play games. If Benjamin tells you something, you can trust it is the truth." She hands me the coffee, studying me with the same intensity her boss had. "He does not usually do private negotiations; you must have impressed him."

Before I can respond, Benjamin appears in the doorway, slightly disheveled in a way that makes him look younger and more human. "Celestine, sorry to keep you waiting, I had server issues. “I hope you're ready?"

We settle into the same conference room, but this time he has files spread across the table, real documents with the ugly numbers I have been avoiding seeing. For the next two hours, he walks me through my father's financial decisions, and each revelation is worse than the last. Offshore accounts, bribed inspectors, falsified safety reports, everything I built my career on is contaminated by corruption I never noticed because I did not want to look.

"I do not understand how I missed this." I stare at the safety violation reports, feeling sick. "I review these facilities quarterly."

"You were reviewing the doctored reports your father's team prepared for you." Benjamin responds in a gentle voice which somehow makes it worse. "Celestine, you are not responsible for your father's choices, you could not fix problems you did not know existed."

"But I should have known…I am the COO and it is literally my job to know ." My voice cracks, as if I'm weak .

"Now you know and the question is what are you going to do about it." He slides another folder across the table. "This is my proposal for restructuring. Full safety compliance, fair wages, transparent accounting. It will cut profits by fifteen percent initially, but it builds sustainable growth instead of exploitation."

I scan the proposal, seeing genuine solutions instead of corporate raiding, and something in my chest loosens. "You actually care about the workers, do you? This is not just about acquiring assets."

Benjamin is quiet for a long moment, his fingers tracing patterns on the table edge. "I grew up in foster care after my mother died. She worked in a factory with inadequate safety standards, got injured, could not afford medical care, and the infection killed her. I was twelve. So yes, I care about workers, probably more than is financially rational."

The confession hangs between us, raw and unexpected. I should say something professional, keep the boundaries clear, but instead I hear myself saying, "My mother left when I was five. Just disappeared one day, no explanation, no goodbye. I spent my whole childhood thinking I was not enough to make her stay."

His eyes meet mine, and there is understanding that has nothing to do with business negotiations. "That is why you are fighting so hard for your father's company. You are trying to prove your worth through his legacy."

"Maybe." I look away, uncomfortable with how easily he sees through me. "Or maybe I just do not want to lose the only solid thing I have left."

"What about your fiancé? Stephen, right? Is he not solid?"

The question catches me off guard. "Why are you asking about Stephen?"

"Because he was waiting outside this morning looking like he wanted to storm up here and defend your honor. And because when you mentioned losing what you have, you did not include him in that category." Benjamin leans back, watching me with that unsettling focus. "I research the people I negotiate with, Celestine. Stephen is ambitious, politically connected, and he proposed to you three months after your father announced you would inherit the company. That is either perfect timing or strategic planning."

"You have no right to analyze my relationship." But anger feels safer than the doubt his words create, the suspicion I have been avoiding for months.

"You are right, I do not; I apologize." He stands, moving to the window, giving me space. "Let me ask you a different question. If you could rebuild your father's company from scratch, make it anything you wanted without worrying about his reputation or shareholders' expectations, what would you create?"

I should deflect, keep this professional, but something about the way he is not looking at me and the vulnerability he just shared about his mother, makes me answer honestly. "I would create something that actually helps people. Manufacturing jobs that pay living wages, training programs for workers who need second chances, products that do not destroy the environment. Something my mother could be proud of if she ever came back."

"She would be proud of you already." He says and turns back softer. "You care about doing the right thing, even when it costs you. That is rare in this business."

"So do you." I gesture at his proposal. "You could make more money a dozen other ways, but you are choosing ethics over profit."

"Maybe we are both trying to fix something broken in ourselves by fixing broken systems." He returns to his seat, close enough now that I can see the faint scar above his eyebrow, evidence of some past injury. "Next meeting, I want to visit the factory facilities with you and see the problems firsthand before we finalize restructuring plans. Would Wednesday work?"

"Wednesday is fine." I gather my notes, needing to escape before this conversation becomes something I cannot take back. "Benjamin, thank you for being honest about the financial situation. I know you could have just used it as leverage."

"I do not want leverage, Celestine. I want a solution we can both live with." He walks me to the elevator, and just before the doors close, he adds, "And for what it is worth, your mother was a fool to leave you. Some people do not deserve the families they are given."

The elevator descends, and I am left with the echo of his words and the dangerous realization that Benjamin Thaddeus understands me better after two meetings than Stephen has in five years of engagement.

That night, I broke into my father's study again, searching for more photographs, more evidence of the secrets everyone seems to be keeping. I find them in a locked drawer, dozens of pictures of my father with the dark-haired woman and the green-eyed baby who grows into a toddler, then a young boy. On the back of one photo, in my father's handwriting: "Benjamin, age four; Gloria says he has my stubbornness."

The room spins. Benjamin Thaddeus is not just targeting our company for ethical reasons. He is my father's son, the child my father Richard abandoned, and his hostile takeover is not business but revenge, a brother reclaiming what our father denied him.

And I have been falling for my own half-brother without knowing the truth.