Chapter 3 - THE PROXY SHE FORGOT
Ava called Naomi Chen from the police station.
Naomi was Bennett Urban Housing’s outside counsel and the only lawyer Ava trusted enough to call at two in the morning.
“What did you sign?” Naomi asked.
“I don’t know.”
“That is not the answer I need.”
Ava closed her eyes.
Three years earlier, when Ava’s mother died, the company had been chaos.
Ryan handled everything.
Board logistics.
Insurance.
Bank access.
Emergency authority.
Ava signed documents because grief made paperwork feel impossible.
Naomi searched the corporate archive.
Then she swore softly.
“What?”
“There is an emergency shareholder proxy.”
Ava’s stomach tightened.
“If you are legally unavailable for a board vote due to hospitalization, detention, or incapacity, your designated spousal proxy can vote for up to seventy-two hours.”
“Ryan.”
“Yes.”
“Can he use it tomorrow?”
“He can try.”
The police had not arrested Ava.
Yet.
Ryan requested an emergency protection order.
He claimed he feared returning home while she was unstable.
His lawyer asked the court to temporarily bar Ava from the apartment.
Not the company.
That was important.
Ava said:
“He wants to make me look unavailable.”
Naomi answered:
“He wants uncertainty. The board may let him vote while we fight about it.”
Smart.
Not theft.
Procedure.
Ava looked through the glass wall toward Ryan.
He sat with his attorney.
Calm.
Then Naomi found something else.
The proxy document had been accessed six times in the last month.
Five times by Ryan.
Once by Northstar’s counsel.
Ava stopped breathing.
“Why would Northstar read my emergency proxy?”
Naomi went silent.
Then:
“They weren’t only preparing a deal.”
May you like
They were preparing for a board vote without her.
And the first person who knew how to make that happen slept beside her every night.
