And for the first time since entering the cathedral, my hands stopped shaking completely.
“To my daughter Charlotte: if you are reading this, then my suspicions were correct.”
The room became motionless again.
“I spent the final year of my life watching people around you carefully. Some loved you. Some loved your name. Some loved what they believed you would inherit.”
Rebecca looked toward Grant now.
Not lovingly anymore.
Nervously.
“A man who truly loves my daughter would never allow another woman to humiliate her publicly.”
Grant’s breathing visibly changed.
Shorter.
Uneven.
Then came the line that destroyed him.
“Therefore, Grant Whitmore’s position as acting CEO shall terminate immediately upon public confirmation of infidelity.”
Someone near the back actually muttered, “Jesus Christ.”
Another board member quietly pulled out his phone.
Grant looked around the cathedral as realization hit him all at once.
This wasn’t just personal anymore.
This was corporate.
Public.
Documented.
There would be headlines before sunset.
Rebecca grabbed Grant’s arm tightly.
“Tell them this isn’t true.”
But he said nothing.
Because he couldn’t.
The affair had been hidden carefully for almost a year, but my father had known long before I did.
The late meetings.
