Christmas Wedding Part 5- All Business free porn video

Mid-July in the boardroom of Acme Consumer Products Corporation in New York. The stuffy room was filled with multiple members of the board of directors of the corporation as well as major shareholders and their proxies. It was supposed to be a routine directors meeting but the issues of the parts manufacturing division growing too large and influential and degrading the other divisions proved to be a hot topic. The division didn't fit in with the rest of the company as it was solely focused on the development and sale of parts to competitors instead of creating and selling new products and this difference was making the various general managers and vice presidents jealous and angry. The division was initially another company, Peterson Manufacturing and had been bought 15 years before by the company with the co-owners being retained as president and vice president of the new division until their deaths, but now was seen as a drag on the rest of the company. Jerry Peterson, the president, ran a tight ship and after his death his vice president and brother-in-law, Wyatt Patterson, took over and continued his brother-in-law's ideas for the company. The corporation was divided on what to do with the division. It was causing too many issues with the other divisions, but too important sell. The only one who didn't seem concerned was Lilly Peterson, the widow of the former president of the division and who inherited the family's shares in the corporation. Lilly finally had enough and announced to all, "Spin-off the division. The corporation will get its fair share from the newly established company while allowing it to thrive or fail on its own. The other divisions can stop fighting it for attention and the corporation will either see that the division was run by a group of people who know what they are doing and the other divisions are manned by idiots or it will falter and its success was only due to corporate oversight by senior management. Either way, the corporation benefits in one way or another." She wasn't a fool, they were willing to sell off her husband's legacy to help their sycophants and keep their own hands in the company pie at the expense of shareholders. Lilly was looking at the big picture, the new company would be a hot commodity as it could now operate on its own and over time it could be bought out by investors and made completely separate from the corporation. The fact that she was the single largest shareholder of the company was beside the point, she was actually operating on behalf of her sons, daughter, and niece and was looking after their future along with the company. The spin-off was shot down until she revealed the internal memo that had been attempted to be kept from the board by members of the division hierarchy, stating that nobody wanted to buy the division and they could easily sell off assets to mask the inability to sell while benefiting from the scrapping of the division. Lilly had done her homework and forced the memo to be shown, then had the executive who had tried to hide it fired for lying to his superiors. The man was a plant for another company, she saw it a mile away and wasn't going to let him get away with corporate espionage or mayhem. She listened as the board debated who would run the company. She had her eyes on one man for the job, Graham Pierce. He was able to work around boardrooms and deal with CEOs, presidents, and chairmen without losing his cool and tell them off while being polite and with a smile on his face. There was little choice but to follow through on the spin-off and due to a stipulation in the contract to buy Peterson Manufacturing a full 60% of the stock went to the Peterson family while the remaining 40% was kept by Acme. The board was feeling like they got shortchanged in the spin-off but it was in the fine print and there was little that could be done to prevent it from happening without opening the company up to a lawsuit that they couldn't win. Those who were most vocal swore that the company would be gutted but it was pointed out that it would only harm the corporation and Lilly vowed to sue the corporation to return all assets stolen from the company during the spin-off period. Lilly just smirked as she announced, "As the majority shareholder, acting on behalf of both of my sons, my daughter, and my niece we will buy out the remaining stock in due course. The corporation has no need for Peterson Manufacturing and will not have a say in operations. I will appoint a new board, one that is fully able to run the company in the best interests of the company and not their own interests, at a later time. I have my own plans for the company and have my own contracts lined up once the deal is finalized and we are legally separate from the rest of the corporation. Do not try to sabotage the deal as I would hate for major shareholders in the corporation to revolt and oust you fine people in favor of people who are willing to work on behalf of the shareholders and the good of the corporation." Her threat was targeted at a select few, heads of rival divisions that knew they were going to see their divisions seeing losses in revenue and scrutiny over their falling numbers. Lilly wasn't fooling around either, she had John Finn's full financial backing for anything that happened in the meeting and would not hesitate to retaliate with his fellow shareholders to get rid of a growing problem. She wasn't about to let her family's legacy get ruined by a bunch of incompetent twits. The SEC was notified as were the media that Acme was spinning-off its most successful division and its original owners were taking majority control again. The media were all over the announcement, with the company's history being retold with Lilly being forced to rehear about her beloved Jerry being killed in an automobile crash 11 years before. There was a piece on her brother-in-law Wyatt dying an early death leading to speculations as to who the mysterious new head of the company was. Lilly knew this anonymity was going to hurt the corporation but she wanted to wait until she was ready to get the whole thing over with and ready to face the vultures on Wall Street as well as in their new boardroom in Boston. She had prepared for the storm and had her ducks in a row, she may have been an unemployed single mother but she was her ex- husband's personal assistant and had built up the expanded company alongside him after he earned his MBA. She only had a bachelor's degree in business but she had been responsible for many of the major ideas that made the company a success in the years before it was bought by Acme and smoothed over the transition to corporate ownership. Word started to circulate that Lilly was the new majority shareholder of the company causing the media to zero in on her. She was quickly dismissed as being the new CEO simply because of a lack of a, "Proper" education but she would happily point out to the media when they inquired to her about her education that multiple CEOs in major industries only had bachelor's degrees or no college education and less experience running a billion dollar company than she had. It wasn't something to hold against someone especially if they were capable of running the company. Back at home, she was quiet about the meeting. She didn't tell her youngest daughter Daisy about it because it would bring up the fact that she wasn't Jerry's daughter and he had died before she was born so he had no connection to her. Daisy was able to tell her, "You are doing what he would have wanted you to do, mom. He wanted you to do what he did if he couldn't do it anymore." The girl was able to touch your heart when you needed it most. She knew Jerry was a good man and her sister Claire and brothers David and Patrick told her that she would have been his daughter had he been alive when she was adopted. She accepted that he was a big figure in their lives, it wasn't in her heart to keep them from remembering the man for her sake and loved the idea that he would have accepted her as his own daughter even if he never got the chance to do so. John called Lilly to talk privately. It was expected, he wanted to know what happened to spur her to make a drastic choice and what he would have to do as a major shareholder in Acme to ensure that she was protected from the rats who would come around trying to get rid of Lilly and their own people put in place over her. He was ready for a fight and he wasn't going to back down under any circumstances. Lilly drove over and put up with the youngest Finns seeking her attention but stopped when their father asked Lilly to come with him. John's, "This is serious" face was showing which was the cue to stop and play with Daisy instead. Lilly didn't mind the kids, but she had important things to discuss that couldn't wait and involved a lot of people's lives. John was right to the point and asked her plans for the company. She shot back, "Hire Graham, buy out the James family, make it a new division, then have Graham, Zachary, and Lindsay run things." John grinned widely, she knew that it was a great idea to bring them in and open up a separate revenue stream to get away from Acme and would help internally with some subcontracted jobs. John grinned and told her firmly, "The first hint of trouble and I sell off my shares in Acme. I am not going to let anyone hurt you or your business because they don't like a woman running it or they are afraid of actually doing work. I fully intend to buy their stake to protect you from them, I have enough to do so and still remain solvent for years to come. If need be, we make it a family business so the cousins have a slice of the company." John was putting his own fortune on the line, something that was a clear indication that he believed that someone was going to sabotage Lilly. She sighed and asked him, "Can you secure Daisy's court and medical records? I don't want them getting out and hurting her. Claire is in the clear, but you know it's only a matter of time before someone tries to use Daisy against me." John expected that and ensured that the records from Daisy's two lawsuits and her custody battle were sealed and only Lilly was able to give approval for accessing without a court order. He further had court officers made aware that people would be seeking her information and claiming to be there on behalf of Lilly, only two people were to be allowed access and all attempts to access her information was to be logged. John's wife/Lilly's sister Valerie was the first, John's cousin/Daisy's lawyer Ricardo Vincent was the other. The two talked about her vision for the company and what they really could do for it that wasn't beyond the abilities of Graham, Lindsay, or any of the senior staff. Lilly was a natural and knew the company inside and out and could tell where they were lacking and where they excelled. She wanted to invest in their under-performing divisions while allowing the excelling divisions to continue unabated. John listened then firmly asked her, "Why aren't you running it? Graham is a great choice but you know the business inside and out and could run it on your own. Don't give me that whole 'I'm a woman' bit because you are the one who should run the company. You deserve to be the CEO, he would be fine being the chairman or even not being involved." She sighed then told him, "Jerry and Wyatt worked themselves to the bone. Wyatt's wife Ivory worked herself to the bone to pick up my slack when I withdrew from the company to care for the kids. I don't want to work myself into an early grave, I can't do that to Daisy. She is too important to me. I can't let her see another mother die because she is too distracted to care for herself." John couldn't find fault in that, Daisy was her top priority and she would never let any harm come to her especially if she could prevent it. Lilly could run the company, but she wanted someone who could do it just as well as her. Graham had his sons but they were used to him working long hours away from the family and had grown accustomed to the downside of a busy father, like ulcers and fatigue, and were mature enough to start pitching in at home. The two shelved the discussion as Lilly went to fetch Daisy from her cousin Ella and return home. Daisy knew something was going on but didn't ask, knowing her mother needed her privacy. It wasn't like her usual trips to New York, so whatever happened down there was going to be big and she hoped her mother wasn't going to get hurt after whatever happened. Lilly called her niece Sheila Bailey and told her to come over. Sheila walked over a few minutes later, nearly giving her husband Ian a heart attack as she rushed over. Sheila knew the reason for the call, and told Ian to take Daisy upstairs so she didn't hear some things she wasn't supposed to hear. Ian grumbled and led her upstairs with Daisy complaining that she never gets to hear the good stuff that the adults talked about. Ian grumbled that she was getting too old for her 8-year-old body leading Daisy to say, "I can't help it if I'm smart and you are just a glorified pack mule. We can't all be big dumb animals who do as they are told by everyone. At least you are a good cousin or we'd get a better one to replace you" causing Ian to toss a pillow at her as she giggled at him. Downstairs, Lilly told Sheila, "I met with the board today and Acme was going to sell their Peterson Manufacturing division. I killed that idea and had them spin-off the division into its own company. As Wyatt and Ivory Patterson's heir, you are going to be entitled to 30% of the shares while David, Patrick, Claire, and I are entitled to the other 30%. The rest will remain Acme-owned but for all intents and purposes the company will be separate and under our control. You are the largest single shareholder so you will have the biggest say in the company. I just hope that you don't have any problems with what I or the other board members are planning on doing with the company." Sheila sighed and told her, "I don't want the shares, you know this. I only got them because mom and dad died, I would rather you have them and use them. I suspect that is what you were hoping I'd say." Lilly offered a soft, "I knew you'd to that but I had to hear it from you. When it happens you will likely be very wealthy and never have to work again, so be prepared for the worst. Do you, as the largest shareholder, have a recommendation for who should run the company?" Sheila smirked while running off a couple of names, then finally telling her, "I'm not a businesswoman. You are able to do this on your own so please, continue doing that on my behalf. For the past two years you have acted as my proxy, you need to continue doing the same." Sheila got Ian from Daisy with Ian thanking her for saving him from another tea party. Daisy just gave her best, "I'm a cute little girl" face which made Sheila laugh and caused Ian to shudder. They hugged Lilly goodbye with Ian telling her that she doesn't have to consult with Sheila, she could do it herself and Sheila would be fine with whatever she chose to do. Patrick, Claire, and David were told next when they got off work and back from classes. They took it in stride, knowing that Lilly had a plan and they would accept whatever happened to the company and Lilly. They weren't fools, they knew that their mother had the most experience among executives and was the best person to run the company and likely to be the chairwoman of the board if she refused to take direct action in the company like the CEO or COO position. David asked if she had secured the records, getting a solemn, "Valerie and Ricardo are doing that tomorrow. They will ensure only they and I can access the information and anyone trying to get it are arrested or brought in for questioning. It'll come out, but it's protected information and if they try to use it they go to jail. I am ready for the reactions, but I hope Daisy isn't hurt when it happens." The shareholders weren't too happy to lose a major division that was bringing in a lot of money for the corporation or that the corporation was not taking a much larger stake in the new company. There was nothing that the corporation could do, it was either let the division get spun- off or they let the rest of the company go down the drain while vultures picked at the leftovers with the division standing as the strongest source of revenue. It was best for all to let it go and reap the cash benefits of owning a portion of it while the rest of the corporation improved their own sales and revenues in other divisions. The vote was close but John's and Lilly's large chunks of stocks and the big bump in their stock prices from the good news about the spin-off brought a majority vote allowing the spin-off to occur. The new board of directors for the company would be named, with Lilly doing the bulk of the work as the proxy for the majority. She was the first chairwoman for the board, with John, Patrick, David, Sheila, Shea Porter, Graham, and Lindsay Reagan being her initial choices. The board leaned heavily on her side with the corporate proxies appointing the current division general manager, Hudson Martin, and the assistant general manager, Dylan Murphy as their directors. Lilly's choices were hard to argue as David, Patrick, and Sheila were major shareholders and John was a major shareholder in Acme. Lilly got down to business and appointed Graham as the new CEO and Lindsay as COO, angering Hudson to the point of walking out while Dylan waited for more news. Lilly didn't let one disgruntled jerk faze her as she announced that the company would acquire Long Printing and Design and create a new design division within the company to work alongside Peterson's parts, pumps, and motors manufacturing divisions. This was followed by Zachary Phillips being named as the new CTO and head of design. All design engineers were moved to that division with the use of separate, subcontracted designs canceled at the completion of their current contract, the construction and manufacturing engineers were able to now focus on their main jobs and not forced to make the contractors' visions come true. Dylan was seeing what was going on and had to agree that it was a streamlining of divisions so each was doing its own thing and there wasn't much crossover except during the actual final retail portion of manufacturing. Engineers weren't co-opted to fix problems others created, they were able to work on their designs and do their jobs right saving time and money money. Lilly knew what she was doing. The meeting broke up with Hudson demanding to know what the hell the woman was doing to his company. Dylan didn't answer, he wasn't going to get involved. It didn't take him long to see that this board was a legitimate board that was going to build the company, not just maintain status quo before selling out to another company or an investment group. Peterson Manufacturing began its new life officially on December 1st. There was little fanfare at the offices, the company was unaffected outside of the boardroom. The workers who had been there long enough were relieved that the new owners were the old owners, complete with Lilly being touted as saving them from losing their jobs to other countries and companies as other companies had done. Hudson wasn't happy to see his future all but ruined by, "That woman" as he liked to proclaim to Dylan. Hudson was a relatively recent hire, having joined the company from another division in Acme when the former GM retired. He was a hardliner, caring only about the bottom dollar and cutting costs and often clashing with Dylan and others who saw safety as most important than making him look good with improved sales figures. It didn't take long before the fighting with Lilly and the board started. Hudson wanted to lay off dozens of workers to cut costs and make up for the lack of growth in his pet project, a new motor for electric cars that had not gotten any traction from the engineers. Graham wasn't liking the numbers and saw that the real drain was his project, one that had cost them several potential major projects and deals over the past year as he diverted money to pay for it at the expense of solid investments. There was a war of words but Hudson lost, seeing his project canceled and the funding going to hire more staff to work on existing projects that were actually going to make money. He took the loss personally, vowing revenge against Graham while plotting to get Lilly back for this personal sleight. It didn't matter that she wasn't involved in the operations of the company, she was still to blame for bringing in the unqualified Graham. The fabrication and assembly employees were thrilled to have more people hired, it would give them a more realistic chance of getting out the orders and let some of them take days off instead of being forced to work longer shifts six days a week. Graham knew this well, Sheila had begged him not to overwork the workers because she didn't want a repeat of what happened to her parents to happen to the workers. Sheila was happy to see that there were new people being trained when she checked out the plant with Graham a day later, and with Christmas coming in three weeks it was a welcome help for most of the new hires. Seeing Sheila walking around and being greeted by workers made Hudson sick. She had no business at the factory and for all they knew she could be a spy trying to find out what they were doing and steal their ideas. Dylan ignored him, there was clearly something going on with Sheila judging by the reaction by the workers to seeing her there especially the older workers who had been there for years. Hudson asked several workers who was with Graham, getting a happy, "She's the daughter of the former owners. She's one of the Petersons." Hudson angrily walked away, with the workers giving a big smirk as they knew it would irk him. None of them liked the man, and hoped he would be fired soon. The new division was seen by Hudson as a money losing operation and refused to go along with the needed upgrades and repairs to equipment and software. He saw it as pointless expenditures. It didn't matter that they had landed several major contracts from Acme and other companies that made the repairs and upgrades paid for in a day, he outright refused to make the changes on the basis of being unnecessary expenditures. Zachary overruled him and approved the requests, enduring Hudson's wrath but only causing him to tell Hudson to get out of his office or he'd have to find a new job. Hudson was escorted out, with the man vowing to get Zachary back. Zachary shrugged it off, then called Graham to demand Hudson be fired as he was trying to hurt the company with his continuous antics. For Zachary to demand his firing the man had to have stepped over the line in a big way. Graham summoned Hudson to his office then gave him an ultimatum: straighten up or find a new job. Hudson dared Graham to do it, walking out with a smug expression and believing that his connections at corporate would keep him in his job despite them not having any say in his employment anymore. Graham called Lilly to get her take on him. Lilly didn't hold back, telling him firmly, "He still thinks that the company is his personal playground and he is going to work his way up to the top. He was one of those coddled brown-nosers who said the right things to the right people at the right time to get ahead. Keep and eye on him, I don't trust him for a minute. He will try to get you or Zachary removed from your jobs. Lindsay is secure in hers, she never interacts with him so has been spared his wrath so far but it's only a matter of time before he goes after her." Graham called Zachary into his office and talked with him about their problem. Zachary agreed that Hudson would sabotage him to get rid of him and his people. The two were sure that it would come soon, as Hudson had little else he could do to use against them to get their jobs. Hudson kept to himself for the next week, but was doing his hardest to dig up dirt on the executive staff. In his mind, they were usurpers who didn't belong there. Peterson was his company, and he deserved to run it how he saw fit and without anyone telling him what to do even if they were the owners of the company on paper. He had people inside corporate who were able to tell him just what was going on and he didn't like it one bit. Corporate had severed ties with the company once it was spun-off. The corporation may own 40% of Peterson but it was only until Petersons had built up money to buy up the remaining stock. He had to take action soon or he would be out of the job and untouchable by anyone. He was growing desperate and looked into ways of forcing people out through less than ethical means. His first target, Graham, was a dead end as he couldn't use his adoption of his son Steven against him, Steven was a solid student with a core of friends who were protected by powerful people and Graham himself had made too many strong allies making going after him impossible without it blowing up in his face. Zachary was no better. His lesbian daughter was napalm if he tried to use her against him. She was dating the daughter of one of the directors, going after her was career suicide. His final target was the easiest in his eyes- Lilly. She was the unwed mother of a little girl who acted like she owned the company. He had no respect for her and with no support she was easy to pick off and use to his advantage to get what he wanted. He didn't know of any of her connections to the other board of directors, particularly John. If he'd done his research he'd have seen the connections and saw her as toxic to him as she was untouchable even more so than Shea and Graham. She held the Peterson stocks in trust for her three children and Sheila, with those three and Ian being unafraid to protect her from people like Hudson. He hired a private investigator to look into Lilly's life and dig up as much dirt as he could on her. The man was to leave no stone unturned and find everything from her first report card to her latest doctor's report. He even had him look into her daughter's life, hoping to get dirt on her father to use against Lilly should he be unable to find dirt on her. As he was hiring his investigator he was clashing with Zachary over the budgets for the design division again. Hudson slashed all budgets by 20% and tried to lay off several designers and engineers, most of whom were not afraid to go toe to toe with him over his forcing of bad designs on them. Zachary kept refusing to allow the cuts and showed just how much he was crippling the division by letting them go as the cost of replacements and increased workload on others was going to harm them more than help. Zachary finally told him to stay out of the division's finances and back off from them for good. Hudson tried to go over his head but was told the same, with Graham pointing out that he had no business touching their budget at all as it was under Zachary's direct control and he had been told to stay away from Zachary's areas. This only infuriated Hudson who told him off, Graham simply pointed out that he was in charge of manufacturing only, and if he didn't like that fact he could look for another job. The line was drawn and Hudson stewed at losing yet again. Graham thought it best to reorganize the company to separate the divisions into their own separate areas with GMs for each. The business was specialized enough to allow for this, with each working with the others but under separate oversight. Hudson had essentially been demoted from running the company to only running a fraction and worse, he was now joined by his former assistant, Dylan, who was appointed head of the parts division while Hudson was relegated to being the head of the manufacturing division alone. Hudson was given another blow as the divisions were able to work with one another and focus on their own problems and budgets while laterally transferring products between them. This irked Hudson most as there was no longer fighting over budgets as they were now stable and he couldn't force them to try to appease him to get a bigger cut of the budget, instead the GM would have to do it him or herself. It took a week but the investigator hit pay dirt in his search into Lilly. He found Claire's birth certificate and it listed two men as the father with a notation of Jerry adopting her as his own due to the father being unknown. He did further research into things and the real father and came up with an extensive criminal record as well as convictions for serious crimes. His dig into Lilly's own past wasn't successful as she had little record with the courts, but when he checked into Daisy's past he hit the mother lode. There were several court cases involving her with one showing that she wasn't really a she- she was one of those transsexual freaks. She had won the right to have surgery to make him into her and it had all been facilitated by Lilly. This was exactly the kind of information he needed to take her down and seize control of the company. His investigator never bothered to tell him about John, Patrick, and David, the man was so focused on Lilly that it slipped his mind and set Hudson up for a nasty surprise. It was his own arrogance that would cause the issues, he was so desperate for the information that the most important information he needed was forgotten and left on the floor of his office. Hudson drew up a plan of attack. He was going to use the next board meeting to go after Lilly and he was not going to mess around. He was bringing with him additional, "Help" to ensure that she listened to his offer and gave up control of the company to him or he would ensure they all paid the price. He had a week to get everything together for the December 22nd board meeting. He sent out feelers to rival corporations for information that would destroy Peterson Manufacturing and would give it to them if there was any attempt to retaliate against him. He got several intriguing offers, with several offers of employment for when the job was done and the company was forced to sell to one of them. The private detective was actually caught in his own net as Lilly's security precautions snapped around him when he felt that he was safe. He met with Hudson and turned over his documentation but found himself brought before police regarding his break-in at the family and probate court and the superior courthouse in Boston. He tried to deny it but he was caught on video inside the office copying the files and leaving with them. This was further complicated as he had earlier in the day tried to get access to the files but was denied by the clerks so there was no way to deny it. He tried to lie to the clerks about having access but asked to show ID he was refused again. This drove him to do the break-in, he suspected wrongdoing by Lilly in keeping the files locked away but it was normal practice for cases involving juveniles. The man was caught red-handed and couldn't bluff his way out of it. He had little choice but to rat out his employer and accept burglary and larceny charges, with the court taking a hard stance on his actions. He accepted three years in prison and was barred from ever working as an investigator again, all but ending his career. Lilly knew the world was about to come crumbling down around her when David told her about the court records being stolen. He had the hospitals involved in Daisy's genital surgery clamp down on her medical files but it wasn't likely to help. It was only a matter of time before he brought out the claims that she was an abusive mother who got herself pregnant, married a rich man, and took in a freak. Daisy was braced for the worst should he go to the media. She refused to hide out and was going to stand up for her mother against people who had no idea about her circumstances. It was the same story over and over again, only this time she would stand up for herself and protect her family. Lilly saw the determination in her eyes and didn't have the heart to tell her not to do anything. Anyone who ever met her knew that once she had her mind set on something she would see to it going through, it was something in the Finn blood that made her do that. Lilly only told her to not speak to anyone she didn't know and to stay close to her friends, hoping that would be enough. The day of the board meeting to discuss Hudson's findings, Lilly told Daisy to stay close to her cousins. She handed her a small locket that she said never to take off. Daisy didn't ask what it was for, knowing that if it was being given to her then she had to wear it at all times. The two walked inside and were greeted with shock as a man grabbed at Flora Nelson, dragging her off while the others were left to yell for help. Daisy thought fast and told Flora to keep the locket with her, knowing it was important. Daisy called her uncle Mick Jones who was all over the abduction, sending ever available friend and police officer to find Flora and. The abduction was no isolated incident. Daisy knew someone wanted her so she kept her friends away from her for the day. Flora was found two hours later with the man who took her getting an earful and an angry group of officers trying their hardest to keep from hurting him over his words. At the same time, the board of directors of Peterson Manufacturing were meeting in Boston. The topic was solely Lilly's competency to be chairwoman of the company. He had a big problem though, instead of John and Sheila attending, their spouses attended on their behalf as the two had to work that day. Lilly knew the man was in for a rude awakening as Ian Bailey would be tough to hold back once the man started in on his aunt and cousins. Valerie Finn was just as ruthless, but she was able to make you walk into a confession then hit you where it hurts- with your own words no less. They weren't supposed to be there but calling the meeting in the morning necessitated their acting on their spouses' behalf. Hudson had a confident expression with several of his lackeys by his side offering him support but also acting as mouths for the interested buyers. Lilly made sure to make the meeting confidential with the men all but ensured a lawsuit for breaking their non-disclosure agreements. Hudson refused, to which Lilly confidently kicked out the lackeys and told them, "Find new jobs, we don't tolerate espionage in this company and will sue your true employers for theft shortly" as security escorted them out. Hudson was left without recourse now that his true plans were exposed, what was said would be public so his threats against Lilly wouldn't have the same impact and may end up biting him in the rear. He still had his confidence going forward, he had his ace in the hole that would be used against her. The inability to keep her own "daughter" safe was a huge concern. The meeting got underway with Lilly keeping her rage in check. Valerie gave he a several reassuring looks while Shea offered a sly grin as he had his own fun in store. Ian had a glare but it was normal for him at having to endure boring things for his wife. Lilly got the meeting started and asked what Hudson wanted as they weren't supposed to meet for three months. He smirked then announced, "I am calling for the removal of the chairwoman on the grounds that she is unfit, incompetent, and will bring national scrutiny and anger to our company." He had all but said that he had Daisy's court records and was going to expose her to the media. Lilly was going to say something but Valerie asked, "Those are some strong accusations and should be discussed, please tell us what you know so we can discuss this further." Lilly saw her toothy shark grin and caught on just what she was doing, Valerie was making him tell them everything. He was going to give up everything he had to them and give them ammunition to take him out legally and ensure that whatever he said was known to have been obtained illegally. Hudson was all too eager to explain, "This woman is just a cheap hussy! She forced the rightful owner of this company to marry her then claimed her child was his, making her bastard daughter a 'legitimate' heir. She then stole her children's shares in the company and used them to remove it from a legitimate corporation. Four years ago she forced a child to undergo a sex change against his will and dress up as a girl, a child that is the unwanted son of the man who is in prison for murder and kidnapping. She allowed her supposed 'daughter' to get kidnapped this morning and doesn't even feel the least bit of grief over the boy being snatched from school. She is a danger to this company, and if need be I'll force this company to ouster her through the media. She needs to go." This was everything Valerie needed so she countered, "Where did you find this information?" Hudson presented her with files showing the court rulings and Daisy's medical records. She made a note to have the head of the hospital's records department fired for disclosing Daisy's records, in addition to filing a lawsuit on Daisy's behalf over the breach of privacy. Valerie read them over then handed them to Ian who grew outraged. Seeing Ian's reaction Hudson demanded that he be removed as he wasn't a member of the board. Valerie smirked, then countered with, "He's the proxy representative of board member Sheila Bailey, the largest single shareholder in Peterson Manufacturing as you are aware. Before you claim I have to leave as well, I am the proxy representative of John Finn who is on the board as well as being on the board of Acme Consume Products and is a major shareholder in them." Valerie then added, "As for the kidnapping? This was never reported by the media and was taken care of by Winnisimmet Police and representatives of the ATF and FBI only just minutes ago so how exactly would you know it had occurred? It wasn't her daughter taken either, it was another girl, one whose uncle will be seeking kidnapping charges against you for doing so as you have just shown that not only do you know about it but are likely to have helped plan it. You tried to take his niece through his sister but instead you took his niece through his wife. Either way, you have an enraged ATF agent seeking answers that you have just given by your own words." Hudson grew angered but didn't dare say anything more. Patrick had to physically hold his brother back as they read the reports, with David texting someone which led to a knock at the door. David stood up and announced, "You are hereby placed under arrest for possession of criminal conspiracy, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, kidnapping, possession of stolen property, conspiracy to commit burglary, and disclosing of private medical records without authorization." David showed his badge and read him his Miranda Rights, but before he was removed Lilly told him to wait. She stood up and told Hudson firmly, "You were screwed over by your investigator. He would've told you just who was on this board and what their jobs were as well as their relationship to me. If you had bothered to read the documents you gave us instead of pouncing on them you would have seen just how much you were in trouble. Valerie is my sister as well as John's husband and I can't hide the fact that you know my adopted daughter is John's biological niece. What your investigator didn't find was that the genetic abnormality was severe and would have caused issues when my daughter started to menstruate. It was medically necessary surgery to stave off a life and death situation that we know personally from experience would have killed her. And what is more, it's an inherited genetic situation as her own cousin had the same issue. So save the 'mutilation' claim. It was needed." She went at him with more intensity, saying, "Ian is a police officer, David is a state trooper, John Finn is reserve police officer. None of them would allow you to leave this room with those files nor allow you to disseminate them to anyone. I suspect you already did so and the media will be awaiting a response so we have one ready. You will be going to prison for your crimes and while this company may take a hit from ignorant fools we will survive and thrive, the workers are top notch and the engineers and scientists employed are some of the best in the business and ones whom you have never seen the value of because you choose to only see your future instead of the company's future." Ian and David led him out in handcuffs as two troopers met him in the lobby. Hudson swore revenge, but David countered with a firm, "You have nothing to counter with. Your little communications scheme was exposed and you will have nothing when we are through with you and with them." Hudson was led off with the media storming him over his claims. David announced, "He is placed under arrest for possession of criminal conspiracy, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, kidnapping, possession of stolen property, conspiracy to commit burglary, disclosing of private medical records, and likely to also face extortion charges once our department has finished investigating. You will have a statement from the chairwoman, CEO, and the other members of the board of directors shortly." David drove off with Hudson while the media awaited the statements from Lilly. She steeled herself, then announced, "Hudson Martin, the former GM of Peterson Manufacturing's parts division and a member of the board of directors, tried to use sealed court documents regarding the adoption of my youngest child against me. With her consent, as well as her siblings, I am going to state why." Lilly looked at the paper and had to fight back tears but explained, "My youngest was born nearly nine years ago in Chicago. At birth, her doctors noticed that she had ambiguous genitalia. Due to orders from the hospital's administration she was raised as a male due to the belief that it wasn't an issue so didn't need to be operated on. When her mother died from a drug overdose she went east to Boston to find her biological sister, my elder daughter. She was placed into social services custody and placed with a trusted guardian. Upon examination by a competent doctor it was found that she was genetically female and had the internal sexual organs of a female. The hospital refused on grounds of inability to pay and her being a foster child, however during the intervening time we found her true lineage and through mutual agreement with her paternal family we agreed to the surgery with intent on adoption by me. She was denied surgery several times and after stopping their illegal blocking of other doctors from performing the surgery she had it done in another hospital. So yes, she was technically male but was never in fact male. Two and a half years ago a friend of our family was found to have been suffering the same birth defect. Had she not had the same surgery in a month she would have died from blood poisoning. This may not be what people want to believe but it was for her safety and well-being that she underwent surgery. She is thriving and will be able to have children in the future- something that she would not have been able to do as she would have died the first time she had her monthly period!" She took a breather then explained, "I married Jerry Peterson, the eldest son of this company's founder, when I was a freshman in college. I got drunk one night at a party and ended up pregnant by a man whose name I never knew. When I left the campus' health center after finding out that I was pregnant I met Jerry and the two of us fell in love. He claimed my daughter as his own and married me knowing my daughter was another man's biological child. He loved her as his own. I adopted his own sons as my own with the blessing of their mother. This same woman had a third child: my younger daughter, had after a fling with the man who had gotten me pregnant from my fling. My youngest is the link to her siblings, children that I love and who are growing into fantastic men and women." She looked at Valerie who nodded. Lilly sighed and added, "I won't hide this sad truth anymore. My daughters are the biological daughters of a criminal, one whose family is the greatest family I have ever encountered. Their father is a man by the name of Roland Finn. Their uncle and aunts are three of the best family you could want as siblings and who are models for what you should be as a family: caring, compassionate, empathetic, vocal, and not afraid to stand up for what is right. They are family no matter what people try to claim. I love them all and will not let some social climbing, backstabbing, unqualified man harm them for his personal gain." She angrily added "the man who stole all of that information did so due to anger over Peterson spinning off of Acme Consumer Products. He was grossly unqualified for his job and knew that he was going to be fired for gross negligence, fighting with senior management, and financial mismanagement of his division. His pet projects have been complete failures and were vast wastes of time and money, costing his division resources that led to the decision to either layoff employees or fund his project. We opted to retain and hire addition employees, canceling his project to pay for the new employees. He intended to engage in industrial espionage with rival companies then merge Peterson with one of his backers, all in the hopes of getting his projects restarted. This was stopped by our senior management and led to his criminal activities. Among them was an attempt to kidnap my daughter, intending to use it as a way of ouster me from the company. That failed as another girl was kidnapped, the niece of a federal agent- as well as my brother. This scheme was admitted during the board meeting, with your being here to go after me after my ouster. That failed due to my son and nephew-in-law placing him under arrest." The truth was finally out there. What happened after was out of her hands. She walked inside and was prepared for the inevitable cries for her ouster from within the company. In the executive suite, Lilly was forced to lay on a couch while Valerie handled the media inquiries. She didn't hold back and showed pictures of Claire and Daisy, then of Daisy and Ella Finn, telling how Ella was her own daughter and Daisy's biological cousin who suffered the same genetic issue as her. Valerie was vicious, telling anyone who would listen that their lives had been saved by their operations and the only ones who had an issue with it were those who had an issue with transgender people and believed their views of who deserved treatment was more important than treating patients who needed care. Valerie worked the media to her advantage and got the real story out there: doctors ignoring patients in favor of money and social pressure. She made mention of Richard Samuels and his research and how Daisy's situation had led to more diagnoses of similar genetic abnormalities saving dozens of lives of children younger than Daisy. The media who went with the kidnapping angle were given the true story, and it wasn't pretty for Hudson. The fact that he had hired someone who was able to grab a student caused the media to go after him for being a dangerous man, desperate to get revenge against his new boss. He had little support, with Lilly's announcement and Valerie's defense cutting off any reprisals from his backers. The lackeys brought in by Hudson to act as an intimidation were shown that they had violated company rules in communicating with rival businesses. They were then sued for breach of their disclosure orders and the rival companies prevented from using any of the information for their own gain. It was a big monetary loss for them, as they had to scrap multiple projects that relied solely on the designs stolen from Peterson Manufacturing as well as pay Peterson for the breach giving the company a boost in revenue while forcing rivals to endure humiliation and revenue issues. At school, Flora arrived an hour into the day and was all smiles as she told the girls that her uncle had ripped into the man who took her. He was showing her the same anger that he had shown her sister's abductors two weeks before. She loved it, he showed he really cared about her. Daisy was quiet throughout the day, needing Flora to keep her spirits up. Daisy called her mom and told her to tell everyone, she didn't want her mom hurt because of her secret. It was four years ago, she could put up with the bullies and older kids trying to harm her if need be. The announcement was met with surprise but seeing Ella there by her side mad the news moot as Ella being stricken with the same disorder was known to the students. Still, many girls were upset that Daisy didn't tell them before. Daisy growled that she didn't want people making a big deal out of it and those who knew were the only ones who really mattered, letting them know she didn't appreciate their being upset at something they didn't really care about and only wanted to get close because of Lilly. Their teacher, Mr. King, got them to focus on school while he also went over rules regarding treatment of others who were born different. Flora just grinned and dared anyone to say anything, Daisy was one of them and was in their family the longest giving her a strong claim to being left alone. She was also a Finn by blood, something only a few kids could claim and something to not get overlooked. After school, Mr. King had Daisy stay for a bit. She sighed and told him, "I am tired of hiding from everyone. I'm his daughter, I don't care one bit about the man. I hate what he did to people and don't want any connection to him beyond blood. I told mom to tell everyone so she wouldn't have it used against her anymore. I am not stupid, I know someone was trying to hurt her through me." Mr. King let her settle down as she got worked up, letting tears flow. She had been building up to this for a while and he gave her the needed release, letting her cry in private instead of breaking down in front of the school. She thanked him then left, meeting Valerie outside as the girls went to her house. Inside the Finn home, Valerie hugged Daisy tightly as she let loose again with tears. She kissed Daisy's head, giving her a loving look that told Daisy that she was going to be alright. Daisy slumped onto the couch and fell asleep, the anxiety of the day was too much for her eight-year-old body to take. When Daisy awoke, Lilly was there with her. She looked up into Lilly's eyes and saw relief, with Daisy saying, "It's over mommy, they can't hurt us anymore." Lilly hugged her and led her to the dining room to eat with the others, knowing she needed the meal and giving her a chance to recharge. The two drove home with Lilly telling her that she was a brave girl for letting the world know the truth. Daisy only wanted her mother to be happy and safe, what happened to her didn't matter so long as her mother was safe from the bad guys trying to hurt her. The two let the day's issues go away as Daisy did her homework and Lilly read reports and recommendations before calling it a night. The family adjusted to Lilly now being the head of a major company with Valerie taking on some of Lilly's school runs while Lilly worked. Valerie was happy to do it, especially as it was keeping Daisy away from prying eyes. Daisy didn't care, she was her mother's daughter and just wanted to move on. Over the next two weeks the company started to run smoother but shut down for a week so families could celebrate Christmas. It was a return to how things used to be, with Lilly insisting on the workers taking the time off so they didn't overwork themselves. The new hires had made it possible to have the time off so none of the lines were behind schedule and with it being a paid vacation the workers were getting time off with pay and seeing their families on the holiday for the first time in years. The media were all over Michael Finn's wedding, especially as it now included a US Senator, the governor, nobles, and now a CEO of a large local company to go along with a UK CEO. The media didn't dare rehash the story about Lilly as the assembled family showed just how large and powerful they really were. The few who did inquire about her past were ignored and anyone who tried to follow up on it were shut out by their colleagues for putting them all on the chopping block. Once the fervor of the wedding died down, Lilly had to endure a board meeting with Acme. Valerie was again going on John's behalf, with John all but done doing these kind of things after the attempt on Lilly. Lilly knew she was going to be the target as they tried to get rid of her, she was trouble for them and making the corporation's issues start to seep to the forefront. Valerie calmed her and had an ace in the hole that she wouldn't reveal until it was too late for her target. She wasn't playing nice, she was going for the throat. Lilly was going to be avenged, and the people responsible brought to justice. The meeting got underway and Lilly was the only business on the agenda. Her actions were deemed detrimental to the corporation and she was deemed a liability that had to be taken out. The board tried to vote her out but a point of order from Valerie caused them to stop and glare at her, but couldn't stop her as she was right and they were out of line. Valerie smirked signaling they were about to be in deep trouble. She happily announced, "Gentlemen, you are about to ouster the one member of this board who has been acting in the best interests of Acme since she took over the position from her husband and his brother-in-law. You know full well the truth about my sister's personal life yet you seem to believe that you can do as you please. Sadly, you are about to find out that this is far from the case. I have evidence in hand to show that a minority of this board has been secretly conducting business behind the scens that truly runs this corporation which is both in violation of the rules of governance for this corporation and is against the law as my brother's colleagues will shortly explain." She pointed to several men in the back who were from the FBI who entered and announced the arrest of the chairman, president, CFO, and COO. Valerie then glared at the rest of the board and announced, "On behalf of my husband and with my sister's agreement, I am calling for a vote of no confidence in the board and seeking new members elected by the shareholders. As their proxy I am doing so with intent that the shareholders take a stronger role in the corporation as it recovers from several years of mismanagement by these four men. Their attempt to blame my sister for their actions is laughable and had they bothered to actually run the company instead of covering their tracks Acme would be one of the most prosperous companies in the world- not a laughingstock of Wall Street." The board was dissolved with the remaining members knowing they were gone from the corporation. Valerie looked to Lilly who said a solid, "No. Daisy comes first. I can't run this, I will be seen as a soft target for the same kinds of people as Hudson Marin. It needs someone who is better qualified than me. You know there are some strong candidates among the upper management who were being kept down because they would rock the boat or were women. Have one of them take over." It was exactly what Valerie had intended but she only needed Lilly to vocalize it so it wouldn't look like she was staging a coup on her own. Lilly sat with her in the boardroom and went over viable candidates and found several young executives who were CEO material who just needed a chance. They made their selections for senior VPs and CFO, COO, and other key figures as well, giving a full shakeup. The two called a shareholder meeting for one week from that day then handled the media to explain what happened and why. Acme lost a lot of money as their stocks plummeted but Lilly being the face of change for the corporation eased most investors allowing it to recover in the days that followed. She hated to be the face but she was the most senior shareholder among shareholders. During the next week, Lilly and Valerie met with potential replacements for the senior management. The sycophants were ignored while the few who genuinely wanted to lead for the better of the company were fast-tracked for promotion. Their choice for CEO nearly wept as they handed her the offer, with Lilly insisting that she was the right person to lead the corporation forward. At the meeting, the shareholders voted for a new board that was led by Valerie and Lilly. They made their choices for the senior management and held off the announcement of who would be the new CEO until the end. When they finally revealed who she was, there was concern as she wasn't a big name nor was she experienced but the two held firm to her being the best choice for the corporation. The media took to the woman immediately, all but glowing over a female CEO who had worked her way up through the corporation and who had a spotless record and a known track record for improving troubled departments. She was seen as the right person to fix the thefts and frauds committed by the previous board, with her senior staff being among the best anyone could assemble. She was seen as the new star in the corporate world, able to be the star Lilly refused to be. The woman announced that Acme would be selling its stake in Peterson Manufacturing to the Petersons in an equal value trade. Lilly was showing that she was going to go it by herself with the company while her anointed successor took full control over Acme and didn't have Lilly's eyes on her anymore. What the trade meant for Lilly was she now had a lot of money as it was split evenly between Sheila and the Petersons with Lilly, David, Claire, and Patrick getting equal shares. Essentially, Lilly was not a billionaire as Peterson Manufacturing stock now carried a total value of $10 billion with Sheila getting $5 billion and the Petersons $1.25 billion each. It was an insane amount of money but their products were in-demand by companies and they had found a necessary niche market to build up a stable company over the years. They knew they were a rich family but until now it hadn't hit them just how rich they really were. Sheila calmed her cousins. She knew about the raise in stock prices as it was how she was able to keep a home in Endicott that she only rarely visited and now sublet to her aunt and uncle. She was never for want, she just didn't live the life of luxury and expensive purchases because she did't want to. The stock trade made Daisy a popular girl as her mother was now a billionaire. Daisy ignored the kids trying to befriend her, they only saw her as a way of getting money for themselves. She only really cared about her three friends, and they were wealthy in their own right making her money moot. Lilly loved seeing her daughter continue to act like a normal girl and not fall into the, "I'm a rich kid" net that others lived in. She had money from before but this was different, this was the superrich. She could have asked to go to private school but she chose to remain with her friends and live the life she had grown used to having instead of a lavish life elsewhere. With money brought suitors for Lilly. Lilly ignored them, she only had eyes for Jerry and would never date again. She loved him too much to dare fall for another, even if she had his permission it was still her life to live as she felt and she wanted to live it alone. Daisy loved that about her, she was her own person and nobody would ever say otherwise. Any guy who did try to woo her mother was met with a polite "No thank you" with Daisy showing she didn't appreciate them soliciting her mother. The few who were genuine were nice guys but she just didn't feel anything for them and didn't want to date just to break their hearts. She did confide in Valerie that the only man she might consider dating was Dylan Murphy. The only problem with that was that Dylan was gay and had a longtime relationship with an ad executive. He was a handsome man but he would never stray from his boyfriend and Lilly wasn't in the homewrecker business making it just a simple fantasy. Daisy was happy to be a normal girl and have her mother there for her. Lilly put her money in a trust so it would go to Daisy when she came of age and Lilly could take a more active role in the company. In Lilly's eyes, it was really Daisy's money as it would have gone to her on Jerry's death if he had known about her existing even if she was born over two years after his death. Lilly had a lot of work to do with Peterson Manufacturing with the company now fully owned by the family. She got a lot of the patents that should have remained with the company returned to them then had them split with the creators so they were properly compensated for their ideas instead of forfeiting them to the company once it was awarded. It was controversial among the senior management but the few who were against doing that were of the belief that the company owned everything you created regardless of how it impacts you. The management shuffle took a month as the best people for the jobs were found and those who were just climbers and who were incompetent at their jobs were let go. They tried to fight back but there was nothing to use against her and their attempts only led to the company putting word out about what they were willing to do to keep their jobs. The few who did fight found out that the reviews by qualified managers were unflattering and they had shown a severe inability to perform their basic duties without relying heavily on others, people who were now replacing them or who had been promoted over them. The culling upended the company and caught a lot of people off guard but brought the old-timers to proclaim that the Petersons really were back in full control. It was as if Jerry was back again, with Lilly's style being a mirror image of Jerry's. Lilly was the real power behind Jerry, few knew that except the ones who had been there before Lilly married Jerry and knew the two were a special kind of partnership, one built on love and understanding with Jerry knowing when to let Lilly talk him through trouble while listening to her ideas even if he disagreed with them. When she was shown around the company Daisy was treated like a VIP, with Claire having to tell her that it was respect for Lilly that the workers were showing. Claire was clearly Lilly's daughter despite the strong Finn facial features and Daisy looked so much like Claire that it wasn't far off to see her as maybe being her mother if you didn't know the truth about her. They saw all of the work being done with Claire joking that Patrick was going to be forced to take over in the future when he earned his PhD, making Daisy laugh while Lilly only gave them a sly grin as it was exactly what she wanted. The Petersons were well liked especially as Lilly answered Daisy's questions about what they were making and what they were doing in certain places. They did cause a stir when they entered the secure planning areas but the fact that they were the owners gave them free reign over the company and access to the designs. Daisy met with Zachary about the designs they were doing with Zachary explaining the ins and outs of their newest designs as well as work they were doing for other companies with Daisy eagerly smiling at seeing the new ideas they created. Lilly was pleased that Daisy was learning a bit from the tour and the employees were taking to her like they had to the kids when they visited in the past. They saw Daisy as a Peterson, even if she never knew Jerry. The ones who knew Jerry best could see his influence on her without him being there, thanks to how he raised Claire, David, and Patrick. When the trial for Hudson came, the manufacturing world was hit hard as several companies were caught with their pants down as their industrial espionage and attempts to discredit Lilly and devalue Peterson Manufacturing for their own gain was exposed. There was a lot of backtracking and attempts to cover up the truth but it was hard to argue with their own words. The companies were fined and saw their stock values plummet as the reason for going after Peterson Manufacturing was exposed- they were broke and needed the more stable Peterson to fund them until they stabilized. The trial lasted three days. Hudson had no real defense and his own words worked against him. He was convicted on each count, ending up in prison for 20 years total. The man who did the actual kidnapping ended up with 20 years himself. He ratted on Hudson and earned himself a lesser sentence but with priors it was only a few years. He barely lasted in prison, enduring abuse from several inmates over the botched kidnapping of the wrong girl. Acme's former senior management were tried and convicted on fraud and hiding money from the company. They had set up an elaborate subsidiary company that would be used to buy up stock in the parent company then rid it of those who were against their line of thinking. It was all a big game to get at minority shareholders who were "outsiders" and who didn't deserve a say in "their company." The money was seized and returned to the corporation, with it being given to shareholders as compensation for losses due to the stocks tumbling. John used his share to buy into the company, seeing it as a solid investment now that good, benevolent management were in charge. Lilly used hers to pad onto Daisy, Patrick, David, and Claire's trust funds so they had something for their own kids. Daisy and Lilly grew closer as Lilly took a more active role in her life. Lilly didn't want to see her little girl growing up while she was stuck in an office doing work she didn't need to do. Daisy loved having her around and started to try to be more active and engaging with others, joining her three friends in little things that she didn't before such as soccer and t-ball and dancing. Lilly loved the new Daisy, and her enthusiasm rubbed off on Lilly. She was happy to give her a chance to be her true self, with Lilly giving her the drive to do new things. It was the start of Daisy making her way in the world, a way that was uncharted but was hers to blaze with a loving mother and three friends by her side.