Mrs. Rose turned the paper. “Yes.”
“What?” I asked, as a bud of hope sprang to life in my chest. “Really?”
“Marlin,” Gwen said his name with all the shock and dismay she could possibly provide.
“It won’t matter. Give her the information,” Marlin said. “Our next vote is about the Sinclair offer. None of this will matter.”
“Oh,” Van said, “About that. I would suggest that you all check your emails. I believe Damien Sinclair has rescinded his original offer. You see, he decided that it would make more sense to ensure that Wade is profitable or at least has the potential before linking Wade and Sinclair Pharmaceuticals.”
With each of Van’s statements, my heart beat faster until it felt as if it would explode with gratitude. “How did you know about that?” I asked.
He winked my direction, wordlessly telling me what he’d said on the plane. Van would let me handle this until the time came that I needed him.
“If that is all,” he said, “Ms. McGrath and I will wait for the conclusion to your meeting after which time, Mr. Butler, you and I will meet.” He turned to my parents. “And Julia will meet with the two of you and receive the information she has requested.”
Dad looked up from his phone and shook his head. “You interfered with the Sinclair offer.”
“Mr. McGrath, I may not be a voting member of this board, but I do own a significant percentage of the shares. Yes, I communicated with Mr. Sinclair.”
Dad looked across to the Butlers. “It seems as though our agenda has shrunk.” He turned to Van and me. “We’ll be done in a few more minutes.”
With Van behind me, we exited the meeting room, closing the door behind us. The muffled sounds of discontent grew fainter as we stepped farther away.
“How did you do that?” I asked. “How did you know about Sinclair?”
“Janie is a lovely lady and quite talkative.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “You just found out a few minutes ago and put a stop to the merger that fast? How and why?”
“It seems that not only does my portfolio contain investments in Big Pharma, but now it includes a recent investment in a small pharmaceutical company in Indianapolis.” He shrugged. “Their PTSD research is interesting.”