Godmother To His Son Then I Took His Kingdom Chapter 26
Mrs. Whitmore moved quickly to retaliate.
The lead sponsor on my company’s Denver project suddenly demanded a full contract review. The Phoenix collaboration was put on indefinite hold.
My finance director laid the cash-flow forecast on my desk.
“If both projects are delayed, the West Coast expansion will have to be postponed. Worst case, we may have to let a third of the staff go.”
The conference room went silent.
A year ago, when Graham had tried to buy his way into my company, I had thrown away three hundred thousand dollars without a second thought.
But now, the company employed dozens of people.
My pride was no longer the only thing on the line.
I reviewed the numbers. I did not say, *Then we’ll pay it.* I did not ask my employees to sacrifice their jobs for my battle.
“The Phoenix project keeps its current budget, but we’ll scale back the non-essential exhibition areas. The Denver team will pause new hiring. Executive bonuses are deferred. Staff salaries will not be touched.”
The finance director blinked, then nodded, a look of relief on his face.
“And submit the completed phase-one results from both projects directly to the museum boards.”
“And if the Whitmores keep applying pressure?” a project manager asked.
“Then the contract, the budget, and the quality of our work will have to speak for themselves. We discuss only the work.”
That night, Eli found me in my studio.
Canvases were spread across the floor. I was sitting among them, reviewing the sixth revision of the budget, a cup of cold coffee beside me.
“What do you need?” he asked simply.
“Don’t offer me money.”
“I know.”
He sat down on the floor beside me.
“I’m changing my solo show next month to a joint benefit sale. The proceeds will go to the Reyes Foundation. The artist list is already set. All you need to do is tell us if the venue can be ready on time.”
I looked up at him.
“You’re not afraid the Whitmores will come after you?”
Eli gave a short laugh.
“Since when do they get to decide what artists in Santa Fe are allowed to paint?”
When the benefit sale was announced, the first wave of support came from local galleries we had worked with.
Then came the curatorial teams from Denver and Phoenix.
No one mentioned the Whitmore name. They simply shared photos of the public art projects we had already completed.
Three days later, the Denver museum confirmed the contract would proceed as planned.
The Phoenix board reinstated their project the following day.
Mrs. Whitmore had wanted to prove that without her family’s influence, I was nothing.
But she had forgotten one crucial detail.
Those projects existed because my team and I had drafted the proposals, led the negotiations, and done the work. She could make people hesitate. She could not erase tangible results.
What she hadn’t counted on was that Whitmore Group stock was still reeling from the initial scandal.
The family trust committee had no tolerance left for her using the foundation’s name to wage personal vendettas.
After a special meeting, she was forced to resign from every charitable and corporate post she held.
When the news alert landed in my inbox, I glanced at it once before forwarding it to my legal team for the record.
Then I went back to revising the lighting budget for the Phoenix exhibition.
At last, the position she had cared about most no longer belonged to her.