The CEO Shoved an Elderly Woman Asking for Bread—Then Learned She Owned the Company
Chapter 12
The company archives occupied an old basement beneath the original Whitmore bakery.
Dust covered the shelves.
Boxes were stacked from floor to ceiling.
Margaret walked slowly between them.
Victoria followed.
“What are we looking for?”
“History.”
Margaret stopped beside a wooden cabinet.
She opened a drawer.
Inside were old accounting books.
Original contracts.
Photographs.
Letters.
Margaret removed one photograph.
It showed her standing outside the first bakery.
Beside her was a young man.
Victoria recognized him.
“Gregory Hale.”
Margaret nodded.
“He was my first business partner.”
Victoria stared.
“He’s been involved from the beginning?”
“He was.”
“What happened?”
Margaret’s eyes hardened.
“He wanted to turn the company into something I refused to build.”
She placed the photograph down.
“He wanted higher prices.”
“Why?”
“Because poor families still had to eat.”
Victoria understood.
“He wanted profit above everything.”
Margaret nodded.
“He left the company.”
Victoria looked at the financial records.
“Then came back.”
“Yes.”
They searched through old documents.
Finally, Victoria found something.
A series of handwritten notes.
All signed with the initials G.H.
Payments.
Instructions.
Names.
And a repeated phrase:
Make Margaret appear incapable of managing the company.
Victoria looked at Margaret.
“They’ve been trying to take control for years.”
Margaret nodded slowly.
“This isn’t about Victoria Crane.”
“No.”
“It never was.”
Victoria looked at the old documents.
“Then why hire me?”
Margaret smiled.
“Because you were good.”
Victoria looked confused.
“I thought you hated what I did.”
“I hated what you became.”
Margaret touched the folder.
“You were hired because I believed you could learn.”
Victoria looked away.
“I don’t know if I can.”
Margaret smiled.
“Neither did I when I started.”
