After the boardroom meeting, I returned to my office.
Rebecca followed me with the reports.
"That went better than I expected," she said.
"Better?"
"Richard didn't challenge the authority of the review."
I placed my handbag beside the desk.
"He knew he couldn't."
Rebecca nodded.
Then she opened another folder.
"There's something else you should see."
I sat down.
She placed several pages in front of me.
They contained written employee complaints.
Some were brief.
Others were detailed.
I began reading.
One employee described being publicly criticized during a production meeting.
Another said Richard regularly dismissed concerns from supervisors.
A third mentioned that people were afraid to disagree with him.
I read each page carefully.
"How long have these complaints been coming in?"
"Some go back more than a year."
"Why weren't they brought to my attention?"
"Most were handled within the division. Some were never formally escalated."
I looked at her.
"Who reviewed them?"
"That is part of the investigation."
I put the papers down.
"Can we speak with the employees directly?"
"Yes. I recommend independent interviews."
"Arrange them."
Rebecca made a note.
Then she hesitated.
"There's one employee who has requested to speak with someone outside Richard's reporting structure."
"Who?"
"Linda Parker. She's a senior administrative coordinator in the division."
"Arrange a meeting."
"She'll be available this afternoon."
I nodded.
At two o'clock, Linda entered my office.
She was in her early fifties.
She wore a plain gray cardigan and carried a small notebook.
She looked nervous.
"Please sit down, Linda."
"Thank you, Mrs. Collins."
Rebecca sat beside me.
I offered Linda some water.
She accepted.
For a moment, she seemed unsure where to begin.
I kept my voice gentle.
"This conversation is confidential within the appropriate review process. I want to understand what has been happening in the division."
Linda nodded.
"I understand."
"Tell me about your experience."
She opened her notebook.
"I've worked there for eleven years."
"That's a long time."
"Yes. I started when the department was much smaller."
She described the changes she had seen.
Some had been positive.
The division had expanded.
Its systems had improved.
But she said the atmosphere had changed after Richard became more powerful.
"What changed?" I asked.
"He stopped listening."
I waited.
Linda explained that employees who questioned decisions were often treated as difficult.
People who reported problems were told they weren't team players.
Several experienced workers had resigned.
"Did you report these concerns?"
"More than once."
"What happened?"
"Nothing that I could see."
She looked down at her notebook.
"Eventually, people stopped speaking up."
I felt disappointed.
A company could survive difficult quarters.
It could survive changing markets.
But when employees stopped telling the truth because they feared their managers, the business was in danger.
"Did you personally experience this behavior?"
Linda nodded.
"Yes."
She described a meeting where Richard had criticized her in front of other employees.
She had questioned an expense entry that didn't match the supporting paperwork.
Instead of answering her question, he had accused her of delaying the department.
"Did you receive an explanation afterward?"
"No."
"Was the entry corrected?"
"I don't know."
I looked at Rebecca.
She made a note.
Linda took a breath.
"There's something else."
I turned back toward her.
"What is it?"
"People are afraid to ask questions about spending."
"Why?"
"Because Mr. Whitmore doesn't like being challenged."
I didn't interrupt.
She continued.
"Sometimes we were told to process things first and ask questions later."
I wrote that down.
"Can you provide specific examples?"
"I can try."
"Please do. We need facts, not assumptions."
She nodded.
I thanked her for coming.
Before leaving, she looked at me.
"Mrs. Collins, I hope you understand that some of us really care about this company."
I smiled.
"I do."
She stood.
"I don't want anyone to think we're complaining because we dislike our manager."
"You're allowed to raise legitimate concerns."
She seemed relieved.
After she left, Rebecca closed the door.
"That was useful."
"Very."
I looked again at the employee complaints.
The situation was becoming clearer.
Richard's behavior at dinner had not appeared out of nowhere.
It seemed to reflect the way he understood authority.
I asked Rebecca to arrange more interviews.
I also requested that finance complete its examination of the departmental expenses.
There would be no shortcuts.
No assumptions.
No decisions based on anger.
At four-thirty, my phone rang.
It was Daniel.
"Mom, are you busy?"
"I'm finishing some work."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
He sounded uncomfortable.
"Vanessa wants to know why you were at the headquarters today."
I looked at Rebecca.
She was reviewing a document.
I turned slightly away.
"Did she ask you?"
"Yes."
"What did you tell her?"
"That I had a business meeting."
I nodded.
"That's true."
Daniel paused.
"She said her father came home very upset."
I leaned back.
"Did he tell her why?"
"He said you embarrassed him in front of the board."
I almost smiled.
I hadn't embarrassed him.
I had simply sat in my own boardroom.
"Daniel, did he explain what happened during the meeting?"
"He wouldn't say much."
I was quiet.
Then Daniel asked the question I had expected.
"Mom, are you really involved with Collins Industrial Holdings?"
I looked at the company logo on the wall.
"Yes, sweetheart."
"How involved?"
"I founded it."
There was silence.
Then he spoke again.
"You founded it?"
"Thirty-two years ago."
"Why didn't you ever tell me?"
I closed my eyes briefly.
I had known this conversation would come eventually.
"I wanted you to build your own life without feeling that my business defined you."
"But you own the company Vanessa's father works for?"
"Yes."
Daniel didn't speak for several seconds.
Then he laughed softly.
Not because it was funny.
Because he was trying to understand everything at once.
"Mom, I think I need to come over."
"Come whenever you're ready."
After the call ended, I sat quietly.
I knew this revelation would affect Daniel.
But there was no point hiding the truth any longer.
Click here to continue reading: PART 7: My Son Finally Learned What I Had Built, but the Harder Conversation Was About the Woman He Still Wanted to Marry
The Evening My Future Daughter-in-Law’s Father Mistook My Quiet Life for a Reason to Humiliate Me
Part 6 of 24
