The Court Stopped Him From Voting With Our Missing Shares

The courtroom was quieter than our lab after the dryers shut down.

There were no cameras, no crowd waiting to cheer. Just wood benches, paper, and people who had billed hours to be there.

I sat behind Ruth with my hands wrapped around the little boat in my pocket.

The hearing concerned temporary protection before Cormac's vote. Ruth had explained that the court would not decide every claim that morning.

"Listen for what is actually ordered," she had said. "Don't fill in the rest."

Cormac's lawyer called the share changes a good-faith effort to settle stale interests.

The judge asked where the transfer agreements were.

"We rely on the signed acknowledgments."

Ruth put my original receipt and the later surrender page on the screen side by side.

The black curve beneath my name looked enormous there.

"The signatures on these separate documents contain the same stain fragment," she said. "The examiner's declaration describes how the image was reused."

She showed the old lawyer's warning next.

Cormac leaned toward his counsel and whispered. His lawyer read a note, then set it down.

The judge asked about payment.

The bank records showed four $600 payments. The company had recorded them as bonuses or expenses, with none listed as stock purchases.

"Was any separate consideration paid for the alleged transfers?"

Cormac's lawyer could not point to any.

I looked down at my shoes. One had a white mark from dried lab salt that I had missed while cleaning them.

It comforted me in a strange way. I had been there. I had done the work. No chart could change that.

Ruth also showed the 2023 dividend record and the planned voting numbers.

"The disputed shares would determine control before their ownership is resolved," she said.

The court barred Cormac from voting the disputed 216,000 shares while the case continued. It also restricted their transfer and any payments tied to them. The written order required the records to be preserved.

Our remaining claims stayed open.

In the hall, Tess put one hand against the wall and let out a breath.

"So he can't use our shares to throw out the review?"

"That's the immediate result," Ruth said.

Leon nodded once. Priya went to call her husband.

Cormac passed us without speaking.

By afternoon, his planned board change had fallen apart. The absent investor withdrew the proxy after receiving the court papers. Leora and Evan remained in place and removed Cormac as chief executive under the company's rules.

He kept his director seat for the moment. The board did not pretend one vote cured everything.

I learned this from Ruth. I did not get to watch his badge stop working.

That evening, the independent review reached the workers at the plant. The board sent a plain notice saying the ownership list was disputed and Cormac no longer ran the company. Payroll would continue.

June texted me two words.

I'm sorry.

I called her.

"You were worried about your wages," I said. "I was too."

"He told us you were trying to cash out at everybody's expense."

"Read the documents when they're available. You don't have to take my word for it."

The next week brought settlement talks. By then, the review team had traced the dividend money and found no signed transfers or valid approval for Cormac's extra shares.

His lawyer asked whether we would accept restored ownership in exchange for dropping the rest.

"Restoration is the starting point," Ruth said.

Heron sent an updated deal outline. The price remained $18.4 million if the ownership dispute was resolved and the required approvals arrived before its new deadline.

Its president, Nadia Bell, asked to meet me at the plant.

"About the sale?" I asked Simon.

"About sample control. She has questions our review hasn't answered. You're welcome to bring counsel."

I returned for the meeting as a visitor. Evan signed me in and gave me a paper badge.

The new coordinator's desk held a stack of unopened delivery slips. He had lasted six days before asking for a transfer back to shipping. Evan told me that without looking at the desk.

"We treated your job like a shelf anybody could stand beside," he said.

"It needs time, training, and someone with authority to stop a shipment."

He wrote those three things down. I waited until he finished before walking into the lab.

Nadia stood beside the retained samples. She held one of the bags Cormac had wanted to send before he fired me.

"The label says approved for shipment," she said. "The attached report says seam failure. Which is right?"

I set my folder down.

"The report. That bag failed."

"Can you show me the rest of that lot?"

I looked toward the shelf June had photographed. The controls had been moved again.

Evan unlocked the sample room, and I saw two empty spaces where our reference boxes should have been.

Then Evan's phone rang. The warehouse clerk had found a pickup record bearing Cormac's signature.