Chapter 39
MAX
I’m back at the penthouse in New York, and while this is still all my stuff, it doesn’t fit me anymore. Most of the furniture isn’t as bad as what was delivered to my flat in California, but it looks a lot like it.
A call comes through from Charlie, and rub my eyes to try and stay awake. It’s almost nine p.m. but I’m used to different hours these days.
“Hey, Charlie,” I say. “What are you doing up this late?”
He chuckles. “Late? This is early for me when you’re in town.”
“Something we’ll have to change. I’m putting together a plan to hire a few more people to help divvy out the workload. No one should be working as much as we’ve been the last few years.”
“Are you sure you can let go of the control?” Charlie asks.
I let that sit for a moment. “I don’t want a heart attack at forty-five. If we pick the right people and train them well, I’ll be able to focus on what’s more important.”
“What’s that?”
“Living life instead of it passing me by. Sorry, did you call for something?”
“Yeah,” he says. Something in his voice is off.
I wait a moment before saying, “Charlie, what’s up? Even though I would love to read minds, it’s not a talent I was born with.”
“Your father is trying to sway the board to vote you out as CEO.”
And there it is. I didn’t realize I’ve been waiting for something like this to happen.”
“Where do we stand, then? And who did you hear this from?”
“Barrett called me just now to see if you’d be at the meeting tomorrow. Your father has been campaigning to several people that he should be put back in until you’ve married and settled down.”
Nothing like hitting the right pressure to make someone break.
And yet this time, I look at it as a challenge instead of pure panic.
“I appreciate the call, Charlie. I’m going to gather a few things and prep for tomorrow.”
“Do you need me to find anything for you, sir?”
“No. Go relax. We’ll chat after the board meeting and make a game plan for how to move forward.
I’m dressed in my nicest suit, my shoes polished and my hair in place. It’s a little stuffy after weeks of more casual attire, but I can do it from time to time.
I barely slept, finishing compiling all the information I gathered for this meeting around dawn. Charlie has a black coffee for me when I walk in. One sip in and I know I’m ruined for regular coffee forever.
“Thank you, Charlie. I’ll let you know how it goes.”
Inside the room, everything is polished walnut, brushed steel, and carefully controlled tension.
No one speaks as I walk in, though several heads turn. Some nervous. Some relieved.
If I hadn’t gotten the call from Charlie last night, I would be panicking. But with enough time, I can build a case to combat whatever my father throws at me.
My father sits in the chair at the head of the table. My chair for the past eight years.
I take a seat on the other side without rushing, setting my phone beside the leather folder waiting in front of me. Someone has already poured water into crystal glasses around the table.
Wolfgang’s suit jacket is a light brown, reminding me of Avery’s eyes.
“You’re late,” he says calmly.
I glance toward the clock on the wall. “By forty-three seconds. I figured you’d survive.”
No one laughs.
The heater buzzes softly overhead. The rain streaks down the windows, finally melting the late snowfall we’ve had.
Across from me, Melissa avoids eye contact for half a second too long before sliding a folder closer in my direction.
Right.
This is really happening.
I flip it open and scan the documents inside, the first one outlined with bullet points under my name.
Leadership concerns.
Operational instability
Temporary executive review.
And so on.
Every accusation dressed up in enough corporate language to sound responsible instead of personal.
My father folds his hands on the table. “As acting chairman, I have a responsibility to this company and its shareholders. Recent behavior has raised legitimate concerns regarding executive reliability.”
Executive reliability.
Interesting phrase for a man who hasn’t missed a quarterly target in seven years.
I lean back slightly in my chair. “You called an emergency board meeting because I took a few weeks off?”
A board member near the end clears his throat uncomfortably.
Wolfgang doesn’t blink.
“You left New York without properly informing key leadership teams,” he says. “Several negotiations stalled. Investors have begun asking questions. I propose we remove Maximus Luca Bauer as the CEO of Alder Haus until such time as he marries.”
That almost earns a smile from me. “Which investors are we talking about?”
There’s a minute change in my father’s expression, and I almost miss it. I’ll address his veiled threat later.
“Burke, Levinson, Steel. I’ve talked to them over the past few days trying to make sure we don’t lose their interest.”
I open my briefcase and take out my laptop, connecting it to the screen. The PowerPoint presentation I’d worked on for several hours is a little out of order, but I scroll through to show a screenshot of an email Steel sent me last night after I’d contacted them.
“Couldn’t be happier with the growth we’re seeing from Alder Haus. We have full confidence in their management and their processes.”
I click to the next screen. “Levinson says, ‘Alder Haus is my preferred company to do business with. Working with Maximus Bauer and his incredible team puts other companies to shame.”
“How do we know these aren’t doctored?” Vern, my father’s best friend asks from the other end of the table.
“I’ve already forwarded them to each of your emails.” I glance around the room. “What other issues do we need to discuss?”
“Process of opening the newer stores was stalled,” my father says, flipping through something on his phone.
Charlie sent me the reports this morning, so I split the stack of papers I have and sent them down each side of the table.
I also have them displayed on the projector screen.
“You’ll see that we’ve run the newest reports here.
Our stock has gone up three percent this week.
You’ll also notice in this little graph here that there was no landslide or huge upswing during my absence.
The company is stable and growing at a steady rate. ”
A subtle shift moves through the room.
Wolfgang notices it immediately.
“Our concerns extend beyond quarterly numbers.”
“Do they?” I ask. “Because profits are usually the first thing people mention when leadership actually becomes unstable.”
A few eyes drop toward the reports in front of them.
One board member adjusts his glasses. Another flips pages.
I sit forward now, resting my forearms against the table.
“The West Coast expansion finalized ahead of schedule. Retention rates improved this quarter. Regional managers exceeded operational targets.” My gaze moves around the room deliberately.
“That doesn’t happen because I hover over employees every second of the day.
It happens because I hired capable people and built systems that work.
I don’t micromanage my teams. I give them the targets, and they do their job. ”
Wolfgang’s expression stays smooth, but I know him well enough to see the tension settling around his mouth.
“A company this size requires consistency,” he says evenly.
“There’s a difference between consistency and control.”
Silence.
This is the first time I’ve ever gone up against him in front of the board.
“This board deserves confidence in the future,” Wolfgang continues.
I nod once. “Agreed.”
That answer catches him off guard. Barely, but enough.
I stand slowly, buttoning my suit jacket as I move toward the windows. The city spreads out below us, people milling about despite the rain.
“My grandfather, Opa Vogel, used to tell me leadership wasn’t measured by how tightly you held something,” I say quietly.
The room stills.
“He said it’s measured by what happens when you let go long enough to see whether it survives without you.”
I turn back to the table.
“This company didn’t struggle while I was gone.” My eyes land on my father’s. “It thrived.”
No one interrupts me now.
“Profits increased. Deadlines were met. Teams adapted exactly the way they were trained to.” I pause.
“That isn’t instability. That’s successful leadership.
To be honest, I’ve been putting in eighty plus hour weeks for years to make sure we never have a dip.
Leaving for a time helped show even me that, while we’ll always need tweaks and to learn to pivot, the company is a fully-working sink.
No rust, no clogs. Every part is doing their job to our success. ”
Did I just use a sink for an analogy at a board meeting?
A voice near the center of the table speaks up carefully. “We didn’t know Max was gone. Things ran normally.”
A woman says, “And employee confidence scores actually improved this quarter. That is probably due to the increase in healthcare options we’ve given them.”
Then another. “Maybe Max’s trip was to check the viability of setting up stores out west.”
That’s not a bad idea.
Wolfgang stays perfectly still through all of it, but I notice his thumb tap once against the table. The smallest crack in composure.
He expected hesitation, fear, or even me giving in.
What he didn’t expect was loyalty.
The vote happens twenty minutes later.
Not unanimous, but not close enough to matter.
Motion denied.
I remain CEO.
Relief quietly settles over parts of the room as folders close and chairs shift. Conversations begin softly around us again, cautious but lighter now that the storm has passed.
My father doesn’t move, and neither do I.
He’s waiting for anger, for retaliation.
For me to prove every accusation he made about emotional decision-making.
Instead, I straighten the papers in front of me. “As for the item of my marrying someone to continue at the helm of this company, there are ties to that union the board might be interested in.”
I stare down the table, watching as red creeps up Wolfgang’s neck. For the first time in such a situation, I don’t flinch, and I won’t be backing down.
“I had finance run a deeper review on several long-term investment positions tied to the Bauer family portfolio.”
A small shift ripples through the room.
“Not company assets,” I clarify. “Personal funds were used to purchase land in various parts of Europe and the United States.”
Wolfgang finally speaks. “That information is not relevant to corporate governance.”
“You’re right,” I say calmly, like I expected him to say that.
“It wouldn’t be, except you’ve been paying people to create reports and fake inspections in order to secure that our expansion stores are built on the land you own.
I’ve got a request out to two of the properties now to have them stop construction and get us the correct reports and inspections needed.
One building is in an area where water hasn’t passed certain testing, which would delay or even shut down that store. ”
“There’s nothing wrong with betting on the future.”
“You used Vilhelm Meier as your source for all the documents, and the trade agreement was my marriage to his daughter.”
Silence drops hard this time. Not polite silence. The kind that means people are suddenly doing math in their heads.
“As a global company, we can’t afford to cut corners like this. We have to abide by the standards set by the company and the governing bodies in those areas.”
I see it before I hear it—the board members leaning back slightly, rereading sections, reassessing tone instead of just content. That quiet recalibration when confidence stops being automatic.
Because in this room, trust isn’t emotional.
It’s structural.
And I’ve just pointed out a crack in the foundation.
Wolfgang looks at me now like he’s deciding which version of me he’s dealing with.
The son.
Or the CEO.
I don’t give him time to answer.
“One final item before we adjourn.” I look directly at Wolfgang. “You taught me leadership requires difficult decisions,” I say evenly.
His eyes narrow slightly.
“I finally agree.”
A pulse of tension rolls through the room.
“As of today, strategic oversight authority will be reassigned from the chairman’s office pending restructuring review.” Wolfgang’s control in the company is limited.
Someone inhales sharply.
Wolfgang’s face remains unreadable, but something colder settles into his gaze now.
For the first time in my life, my father understands he can’t force me back into place.
And judging by the silence in the room—everyone else understands it too.