Chương 6
Daniel stared.
“She doesn’t own shares.”
Eric did not respond.
Daniel looked at Vanessa.
She closed her eyes.
He felt the answer before hearing it.
“You gave her shares.”
Eric said, “Options.”
“How many?”
“Enough after conversion.”
Daniel laughed softly.
His brother moved closer, mistaking the sound for collapse.
Daniel held up a hand.
“No.”
He looked at Eric.
“Enough for what?”
Eric’s voice became careful again.
“To create a voting coalition.”
“With you.”
“Yes.”
“And whoever else you lined up.”
Eric said nothing.
Daniel nodded slowly.
“You didn’t need my signature today to take control.”
“We needed ratification.”
“But you already moved against me.”
“We created leverage.”
Daniel stared at him.
Then at the locked doors.
Then at the papers.
“This isn’t a rescue plan.”
Eric’s jaw flexed.
“It started as one.”
“From what?”
“From you cashing out and leaving everyone else holding promises.”
Daniel’s anger rose, but something beneath it held him still.
“Who told you I was selling?”
Eric did not answer.
Daniel looked at Vanessa.
Her face gave it away.
Not guilt alone.
Recognition.
“You.”
She whispered, “I saw an email.”
“What email?”
“From Marston.”
Daniel’s mouth went dry.
“You went through my email?”
“You left your laptop open.”
“Which email?”
“The term sheet.”
“That wasn’t a term sheet.”
“It said acquisition proposal.”
“It was an inbound offer.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
“Because I rejected it.”
“You didn’t reject it immediately.”
“No.”
Vanessa’s eyes flashed.
“So Eric was right.”
Daniel stared at her.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“You needed him to be right.”
“That’s not fair.”
“You saw something you didn’t understand, hid it from me, took it to Eric, and let him build a coup around it.”
Her eyes filled, but she did not cry.
“I thought you were going to sell and leave.”
“Leave what?”
“Everything.”
Daniel’s expression shifted.
“What does that mean?”
She looked away.
Thomas lowered his head.
Eric studied the floor.
Daniel felt a more personal fear open beneath the corporate one.
“Vanessa.”
She pressed her lips together.
“When we met, you said you were tired.”
“I was.”
“You said you wanted less.”
“Yes.”
“You said sometimes you wanted to disappear for six months and not answer a phone.”
“That is not the same as abandoning my company.”
“Or me?”
The question came out small.
For the first time that day, Daniel saw something in her that was not strategy.
He saw the woman who checked twice that hotel doors were locked.
The woman who saved receipts for cash purchases.
The woman who hated not knowing where he was, even when she disguised it as teasing.
Fear had been present for a long time.
He had mistaken it for control.
Maybe sometimes it had been both.
“You thought I was leaving you.”
“I thought you might.”
“So you gave Eric leverage over my company.”
“I thought if the company couldn’t be sold, you’d stay.”
Daniel stared.
Vanessa inhaled sharply.
“I know how that sounds.”
“No, I don’t think you do.”
“I panicked.”
“For months?”
Her silence answered.
Daniel looked toward Thomas.
“The certificate.”
Vanessa’s face collapsed inward.
He waited.
Finally, she said, “Eric found out.”
Daniel turned toward him.
Eric nodded once.
“How?”
“She used her married name on an old financing document.”
Thomas looked at Vanessa.
“You told me those records were gone.”
She ignored him.
Daniel’s pulse thudded in his throat.
“And then what?”
Eric answered.
“I told her the marriage had to be resolved before today.”
Daniel glanced around the chapel.
“Excellent work.”
Eric’s jaw tightened.
“She told me it had been.”
Vanessa whispered, “I thought Thomas would sign again.”
Thomas stared at her.
“You never sent me anything.”
“I was going to.”
“When?”
She said nothing.
Daniel looked at her for a long time.
“So you came here today knowing you might still be married.”
Vanessa’s eyes lifted to his.
“Yes.”
Mia began to cry quietly from the pew.
Not loudly.
That made it worse.
Daniel turned.
She had pressed both hands over her mouth as if she were trying not to interrupt.
He walked to her and knelt.
“I’m sorry.”
She shook her head.
“For what?”
“For making you carry this.”
“You didn’t.”
“I should have seen something was wrong.”
Mia wiped her face with the back of her hand.
“You were happy.”
Daniel closed his eyes for half a second.
When he opened them, she was still watching him.
“I was.”
She leaned toward him.
He pulled her into his chest.
Behind them, a heavy knock struck the chapel doors.
A man’s voice called from outside.
“Sheriff’s department.”
Every person in the room seemed to breathe at once.
Daniel held Mia a second longer.
Then he stood and turned toward Eric.
“Open the door.”
This time, Eric obeyed.
The deputy entered first with one hand resting near his holster and the other raised toward the room.
“Everybody stay where you are for a minute.”
A second deputy followed him, younger, rain shining on the shoulders of his uniform.
The first deputy looked from Eric to Daniel, then toward the guests standing between the pews.
“Who called?”
The videographer lifted his phone.
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Door was locked from the inside, and that man threatened nobody could leave unless somebody signed documents.”
The deputy looked at Eric.
“Is that accurate?”
Eric glanced at Daniel.
“No.”
Daniel said, “Yes.”
Both deputies shifted their attention to him.
Daniel felt Mia’s hand slide into his.
He kept his grip loose so she would not feel how hard his fingers wanted to close.
The older deputy pointed toward the papers.
“What are those?”
“Corporate documents,” Eric said.
“Are they yours?”
“They’re company property.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Eric’s mouth tightened.
“They’re in my possession.”
The deputy nodded as if filing the answer away.
“Set them on that pew.”
Eric hesitated.
The younger deputy took one step forward.
“Now.”
Eric placed the stack on the nearest pew.
The movement seemed to cost him.
May you like
Vanessa stood perfectly still near the altar.
Her dress, so carefully chosen for simplicity, suddenly looked conspicuous against the scattered chairs, wet coats, phones, and frightened faces.
