The board authorized Maria to negotiate a conditional services agreement that could eventually support approximately one hundred eighty million dollars in annual revenue. It would be subject to service milestones, performance measures, and Pacific's own governance approval. The representatives left without signatures, but with a schedule for drafting one. Angela regarded that as more valuable than a ceremonial photograph of smiling people holding documents nobody had read.
Meridian's proposal came last. Sarah disclosed her former role as CEO and withdrew from deliberations on the joint venture because she wanted no question about her independence. The other six directors reviewed the proposal, including a preliminary ninety-five million dollar annual revenue opportunity. They approved continued negotiations by a six-to-zero vote, again with conditions that would need to be met before closing.
Angela looked at the whiteboard where Evelyn had written the three decisions. Three serious opportunities had survived a chaotic ownership transition, but none was guaranteed. The numbers offered the possibility of recovering business the old board had neglected; they did not absolve the new board of doing the work. The distinction would become a recurring theme in every report Angela demanded afterward.
As the afternoon passed, a new issue emerged from the legal team. The former chairman's employment agreement contained substantial severance provisions, and several department heads had contracts that could not simply be ignored. Patricia directed counsel to review the obligations and avoid making termination decisions based solely on association with the old board. She also established a separate committee to examine the expense questions because neither Angela nor Maria should control an investigation into executives whose removal they had advocated.
"We cannot build a company that promises fairness and then abandon due process when the accused person is somebody we dislike," Patricia said.
Angela nodded. "Put that sentence at the top of the committee's charter."
The director sitting closest to Evelyn asked whether the original boardroom recording would become public. Angela said that it would remain preserved and that any use in a training or investigative setting required independent legal review. Some material was relevant to governance and discrimination concerns. Other portions involved people who had simply been doing their jobs, and those employees deserved privacy.
"What about the insult?" Lena asked. "People will want to know why this happened."
"We can tell the truth without turning one ugly sentence into the whole story," Angela replied. "I intend to be transparent about the leadership transition and the workplace concerns. I don't intend to invite the public to attack a receptionist or a security guard who was told to remove me."
The new directors approved a temporary leadership structure and asked Maria to serve as interim chief financial officer once her employment transition was complete. Graham Bell would assist with the handover pending a review of his own responsibilities and conduct. He was not accused of fraud merely because he had worked with Hawthorne, and Angela resisted requests from some investors to remove the entire finance department. The company needed to distinguish experience from complicity, even when the distinction took patience.