“Is the whole Ashford board going to be there?” someone asks.
Grandpa shakes his head. “Just the family. This isn’t a signing meeting. It’s an assessment before we both take it to our boards. I’m hand-picking people who understand the technology for a proper exploratory discussion. So, Harry, Rob, Joseph, you won’t be coming, just to make that clear.”
“What?” My father and my two belligerent uncles glare at him.
“We’re not going in like an invading army,” Grandpa states firmly. “We don’t want brute force and aggression. We want intelligence, tact, and a little… charm, and to show them our gazes are forward-focused, not stuck in the past. So I want Brielle there, and Maddie.” He looks over at the two of us.
“Seriously?” my brother says. “I don’t see how holding a freak show is going to help business.”
“Iain,” my father snaps, and my brother slumps moodily in his chair.
I don’t respond because I’m in shock. Brielle inhales beside me, although she just nods coolly. I swallow hard as everyone looks at us. Many of them will be itching to get into that room, and if Grandpa wasn’t here, I’m sure they’d be more vocal about voicing their objections.
But ultimately, I think they’ll understand what Grandpa means about not bringing an invasion force. My father and his siblings would stroll in like the cast of the TV showSuccession, and that would immediately alienate the Ashford heirs. My family prefers boardrooms to paddocks. The farms might carry the Rutherford name, but most of them are run by people who actually know one end of a sheep from the other. Bringing the Head of Strategic Initiatives and the Senior Agronomist to the meeting shows our real interest in improving agriculture, not just in expanding our holdings.
Still… intelligence, tact, and charm? Well, I guess it could be argued that I bring intelligence, but Brielle’s also super-smart, and she has the other qualities as well. Why do I have to be there? I’m flattered, and excited about getting my hands on the pasture management system. But it also means facing Caesar Ashford across the boardroom table.
While everyone else starts talking about strategies, I take deep breaths and try not to pass out. I can’t do this! What if he recognizes me? He’ll assume I was sent to the ball to seduce him, to soften him up before the meeting.
He hates the Rutherford Group. The Korero article revealed he was apparently the most outspoken against the idea of a Rutherford acquisition. He would definitely vote against a partnership. Being forced to sit at the table for a discussion is going to make him mad enough. I tremble at the thought of how furious he’d be if he realized who Cupcake actually was. It won’tmatter that I told him I didn’t recognize him. I’m terrible at lying, and he’ll see right through me.
“Well?”
I sit up hastily as Grandpa pulls up a chair in front of me and Brielle.
“What do you think?” he asks softly.
“It sounds amazing,” Brielle says. “Thank you so much for having faith in us, Gramps. It’s super-exciting.”
“You can head the presentation,” he tells her.
“Thank you.” She glows. “Imagine how we’ll look if we bring together the pasture management system with Verdant.” She’s referring to the AI-driven crop optimization program we’ve been developing. “The media will love it. We’ll be seen as the future of farming.” Her eyes glow. She sees everything in sound bites and headlines.
“Yes,” Grandpa says. Then he looks at me. “Maddie, I’m hoping you’ll fill in with any scientific questions.”
I’ve been working with Brielle on a family farm outside Queenstown. While she’s been concentrating on Verdant, I’ve also quietly been working on soil restoration. It’s not as flashy as AI optimization though, and the rest of the family would rather invest money elsewhere. Gramps just wants me to back up Brielle.
His eyes gleam. “Imagine how much more we could improve the yield with Ashford’s pasture growth data system? The real value is in the data. That’s where the future is.”
I swallow hard. “I’m really flattered, Gramps, but… I can’t.”
His eyebrows lift. “Why not?”
“Brielle’s the one you need. It’s her baby. And she’s the face of the company, not me.”
She snorts. “You just need to put yourself out there more. Get on Instagram and TikTok and talk about your work.”
“Honestly, I’d rather die.”
“Fine,” Grandpa says, “let Brielle lead the presentation, but you can answer any science questions better than anyone else in this room. I want you there, Maddie. I need insight, not posturing. Don’t let me down.” He pats my knee, then gets up and goes back to talk to my father and some of the others.
I try to calm my breathing. Caesar’s not going to recognize me. I looked completely different on the night of the ball. I was wearing a dark wig, false eyelashes, heavy makeup, and high heels—most of the time. And I was confident and outgoing, completely different from the usual mousy science geek I normally am. He’ll be so caught up in glaring at my grandfather that he won’t even give me a second look.
“Are you freaking out?” Brielle asks.
“Honestly?”
“For God’s sake, it’s just a meeting. Don’t let the Ashfords intimidate you. Actually, they’re quite nice. I met Edward and Marcus at the ball.”
