‘Nobody approached anybody,’ Eric Jenkins said reasonably. ‘This was an unsolicited offer, from an American consortium. It would include the planned New York school. Read the papers, Tati. By any standard they’re offering far more than the business is worth today.’
‘I will not read the papers!’ Tati shouted. She sounded borderline hysterical. ‘We’re not selling. It’s completely the wrong time. We’re on the cusp of becoming huge. This buyer can see that, even if you’re all too blind to be able to.’
‘Sit down, Tatiana,’ Michael Guinness said firmly. ‘Insulting your board is not going to help matters.’
‘Oh really? And why shouldn’t I insult you, Michael? You’re a bunch of two-faced snakes!’
‘Really!’ Lady Arabella thundered.
‘I don’t need you anyway,’ Tatiana ranted on. ‘It just so happens I have a private investor prepared to fund the New York school in its entirety. So you can stick your stinking takeover bid where the sun don’t shine.’
‘I’m afraid it’s too late for a white knight,’ Michael Guinness said smoothly. ‘If you’d talked to us about a private investor sooner, things might have been different. As it is, we’re all in agreement. This is an offer we can’t afford to refuse. We’ve come here today to take a vote on it.’
‘I’ll veto,’ hissed Tatiana.
‘A veto requires a minimum of two board votes,’ said Arabella Boscombe.
‘You’re with me, aren’t you, Eric?’ Tatiana wished her voice didn’t sound so desperate.
‘If you’d read the memorandum, you would see that this is a wonderful offer,’ the accountant said awkwardly.
Jennifer Engels, another of Tatiana’s former supporters, backed him up.
‘This truly isn’t personal. What they’re offering is a full forty per cent more than the takeover bid that Avenues turned down last year, from Innovation Private Equity. We’d be mad to decline.’
Tati sat down, shocked and deflated. This couldn’t be happening. How had she allowed this to happen?
‘I’m going to call a vote,’ said Michael Guinness.
‘No, you can’t!’ she shouted. ‘Not yet, please. We need to discuss this properly.’
‘We have discussed it,’ said Lady Arabella pitilessly. ‘And we’re all in agreement.’
‘You can stay on and work with the new owners if you choose to.’ Eric Jenkins clearly felt bad. ‘The terms for your continued involvement are outlined on page six.’
‘But you don’t need to,’ said Michael Guinness. ‘You’ll be so wealthy, you’ll never need to work again.’
I don’t care about the money! Tati wanted to scream. Hamilton Hall was never about the money. It was about building something that was mine. Something that no one could take away from me, the way they took Furlings. It was about proving Brett Cranley wrong. Brett, and my father, and everyone else who ever wrote me off as a failure.
‘I’d like a show of hands, please.’
Michael Guinness’s voice sounded distant suddenly, like a voice in a dream. A nightmare. Why can’t I wake up?
‘All those in favour of accepting the HCL bid.’
Eleven arms fluttered towards the ceiling.
‘All those against.’
Tatiana closed her eyes and lifted her hand, alone. More alone than she had ever been in her life.
There was noise after that, people coming and going. Some of them stopped to talk to her. She heard conversations about press releases and legal fees. She heard excitement and happiness, the platitudes washing over her, like scum on the tide.
‘It was a terrific offer, Tatiana. Once the dust settles, you’ll see that.’
‘It’s for the best.’
‘Time for a new challenge. You’re still so young!’
At last the room was empty and she was alone.
Her head started to throb. She stood up to get some water, and the nausea that had plagued her the other day at Max Bingley’s wedding suddenly returned with a vengeance. Running out of the room, her hand over her mouth, she only just made it to the loo in time, throwing up again and again until her stomach was so empty it ached.
Splashing cold water on her face, Tati looked at herself in the mirror and was shocked at the pale, ghostly face that stared back at her.
Something’s wrong with me.
She just managed to dial Jason’s number before she collapsed on the floor.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Madeleine Wilkes was exhausted.