Chapter 22
Sebastian nearly lost the chairmanship when Elisa was seventeen.
Not because of scandal.
Because enough shareholders believed he had stayed too long.
He had been executive chair for years before the vase broke.
Then reforms.
Investigations.
Restructuring.
A decade of stronger controls.
Some younger relatives began asking the question nobody had previously asked directly.
If the system no longer depended on one powerful Caradonna, why did Sebastian still lead it?
Claire enjoyed the irony.
“You built governance strong enough for people to challenge you.”
“I regret everything.”
“No, you don’t.”
“No.”
The challenger was Richard Caradonna.
The same cousin who once refused Lucinda’s stabilization money.
He had become one of the most vocal supporters of transparent governance.
His platform was not anti-Sebastian.
That made it stronger.
Independent chair after Sebastian’s current term.
Separate family council for cultural matters with no corporate authority.
Term limits.
More younger shareholders on committees.
Sebastian disagreed with parts.
He did not call Richard disloyal.
Older relatives did that for him.
At one dinner, Peter said:
“After everything Sebastian protected, this is how you repay him?”
Richard answered:
“That sentence is why term limits matter.”
Elisa heard.
Later she asked Sebastian:
“Are you mad?”
“Yes.”
“At Richard?”
“Somewhat.”
“Because he’s wrong?”
“Partly.”
“And?”
Sebastian looked at her.
“Because I like being chair.”
She laughed.
“You’re allowed.”
“Apparently.”
Lucinda held enough shares to matter slightly.
She still had no governance office, but her lawful vote remained hers.
Everyone wondered which side she would support.
She refused to say publicly.
Sebastian hated how much he cared.
The vote happened in June.
Richard’s full proposal failed narrowly.
A compromise passed.
Sebastian would serve one final three-year term.
Afterward, the board chair would have to be independent for at least one full term before another Caradonna could hold the role.
Executive management would remain separate.
Sebastian won.
And lost something.
That was the point.
Lucinda had voted for the compromise.
Elisa asked her why.
“Your father is good at what he does.”
“That sounds suspiciously nice.”
“He also believes rules are strongest when other people need them.”
Sebastian heard about the comment from Elisa.
It irritated him for almost a week because it was accurate.
At the next shareholder meeting, he announced the transition plan himself.
No emergency.
No dramatic resignation.
No attempt to change rules before they applied.
Richard approached afterward.
“You angry?”
“Yes.”
“Still?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Sebastian almost smiled.
“Why?”
“Because I’d worry if losing power felt noble.”
That evening Elisa found Sebastian reading old governance minutes.
“Are you scared?”
“No.”
She stared.
He corrected himself.
“Yes.”
“Of what?”
“Being less necessary.”
Elisa sat beside him.
“That sounds like Lucinda.”
He looked at her.
She continued:
“Not the fraud part.”
“Thank you.”
“The needing-the-family-to-need-you part.”
Sebastian closed the file.
His seventeen-year-old daughter had just found the similarity he would have preferred to miss.
“That was rude.”
“Useful truth.”
He laughed.
Lucinda’s phrase had become theirs now.
May you like
Not inherited authority.
Inherited correction.
