Chapter 4 - The Dissolution of Dominance
Franklin sunk into one of the leather chairs across from the desk, the heavy, imposing presence he had wielded in his backyard completely shattered. He looked at the whiteboards, filled with complex mathematical formulas he couldn't begin to understand, and then looked at his daughter—the girl he had dismissed, the girl whose scholarship he had called 'useless.'
"What do you want, Maris?" Franklin asked, his voice suddenly sounding old, stripped of its booming timber. "Are you going to put your own brothers in jail? Is that what this revenge is about?"
"This isn't revenge, Franklin. It's an acquisition," Maris replied, sitting back down behind the desk. "Revenge is emotional. Revenge is chaotic. I am simply executing a cold corporate restructuring. If I wanted you in jail, the police would have been waiting for you at the gate this morning."
She slid a two-page document across the desk toward him.
"This is a total severance agreement," Maris explained. "You will surrender your remaining minority shares in Camden Logistics. In exchange, M.C. Software will assume all personal liabilities connected to Derek's gambling debts and Colton's failed Nevada corporation. You will retain the house in Boise, but the land rights for the commercial yard behind it will revert to my firm. You will receive a monthly pension of three thousand dollars, conditional upon a permanent non-disclosure and non-interference agreement."
Colton gasped, looking at the document. "Three thousand a month? That's pennies! My car payment alone is half of that!"
"Then I suggest you sell the car, Colton," Maris said without a shred of sympathy. "Because as of 9:00 AM, your employment with this company is terminated. You have thirty minutes to clear your desk. If you are still on the property by 9:31, security will escort you out in handcuffs for corporate trespassing."
"You can't do this to your own blood!" Franklin yelled, his eyes widening as the reality of his complete financial eviction settled in. "Family helps family! That’s what your mother and I taught you!"
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"No," Maris said, her voice dropping into an icy, dangerous register that caused even the accountant near the door to hold her breath. "You taught Colton and Derek that they were gods, and you taught me that I was invisible. You told me to study something useful, Franklin. I did. I studied how to survive without you. And now, I am the only thing keeping this family from total bankruptcy."
Franklin looked at the pen in front of him. He looked at Colton, who was already sweating through his expensive shirt, looking around the room for any escape. With a shaking hand, Franklin picked up the pen and signed his name on the dotted line.
