Chương 11
I had spoken to Claire that morning.
Evan was fine.
He had eaten oatmeal, thrown half of it on the dog, and gone down for his nap twenty minutes early.
Ordinary.
Safe.
I had clung to that.
Now Jason had reached for the one subject that could still make me react before thinking.
Leah saw my face.
“What?”
I handed her the phone.
She read the message and pushed it back.
“Do you have a custody arrangement?”
“No.”
“Has either of you filed?”
“No.”
“Where is Evan?”
“With Claire.”
“By agreement?”
“Yes.”
“Get family counsel.”
“I already have Leah Grant.”
“I am not your divorce lawyer.”
“You contain multitudes.”
“Your mother is a bad influence.”
I opened my contacts.
Jason called before I could choose a number.
I stared at the screen.
Leah said nothing.
Neither did Daniel.
Finally, I answered.
“Is Evan okay?”
Jason was silent for half a second.
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
“With Claire.”
“That’s what she told me.”
“So you’ve spoken to her.”
“Yes.”
His voice sounded rough.
“I need to see you.”
“No.”
“Isabella.”
“We can arrange a conversation through lawyers.”
“Jesus Christ.”
I closed my eyes.
“This is not about the company.”
“You made it about the company when you accused me publicly of using Vance Global against you.”
“I said what happened.”
“You lied.”
“About what?”
“You froze my financing because you were angry.”
“I made an inappropriate call.”
“At least you admit that.”
“I reversed control of the decision and recused myself.”
“That doesn’t erase it.”
“No.”
His silence surprised me.
I had expected another argument.
Instead he said, “Do you know what they’re doing upstairs right now?”
“Yes.”
“They’re dismantling my company.”
“They’re reviewing transactions.”
“Because of you.”
“Because twenty-two million dollars moved yesterday and seventeen million went to an entity your CFO says you own.”
His breathing changed.
“You talked to Rachel.”
“She has counsel.”
“She’s a liar.”
“She admitted she lied.”
“Exactly.”
“She said she lied for you.”
“That is not what happened.”
“Then tell your board what happened.”
“I can’t talk to my board with everyone treating me like a criminal.”
“Nobody in that room reports to me right now.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
I looked at Daniel.
He looked away.
“Believe whatever you want.”
Jason lowered his voice.
“Do you understand what happens if Cole Meridian loses the facility?”
“Payroll becomes difficult.”
“Impossible.”
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“How much cash do you actually have?”
“Not enough.”
“How long?”
“Maybe two weeks.”
Daniel’s head came up.
I stood.
“You told lenders you had six weeks of liquidity.”
“We did.”
“When?”
“Before Northline.”
“Jason.”
“I moved cash because we needed the software rights secured.”
“You moved five million into a family trust.”
“It was reimbursement.”
“For what?”
“Money I put into Meridian Strategic.”
“Then document it.”
“I can.”
“Good.”
“Stop talking to me like I’m on trial.”
“Then stop answering questions like you are.”
He swore.
I heard a door close on his end.
Then his voice dropped further.
“You don’t know what it was like keeping that company alive.”
“I know what you told me.”
“You know nothing.”
That hurt because it was partly true.
“You kept asking why I was never home.”
“You were never home.”
“I was trying to make payroll.”
“You were also in Aspen.”
“That was work.”
“You stayed three extra days.”
“I was raising capital.”
“You sent me photographs from a ski lodge.”
“Because investors ski.”
Daniel covered his mouth.
I glared at him.
Jason continued.
“I was drowning, Isabella.”
The anger in his voice thinned.
For the first time, exhaustion showed through.
“Every quarter there was another problem.”
I sat down.
“You could have told me.”
“And then what?”
“I could have helped.”
He gave a bitter laugh.
“With your secret fortune?”
I said nothing.
“There it is.”
“Jason.”
“You were waiting to see if I deserved access.”
“That isn’t fair.”
“No?”
“No.”
“You watched me beg Sterling for meetings.”
“You wanted Sterling.”
“You could have picked up a phone.”
“I introduced you to people.”
“You let me humiliate myself.”
The accusation hit somewhere complicated.
I looked at the table.
He was wrong about much of it.
Not all.
“I should have told you who I was before we married.”
Silence.
Leah looked at me sharply.
I turned away from her.
“I should have told you,” I repeated.
Jason’s breathing softened.
“Then come home.”
“No.”
The softness vanished.
“Why?”
“Because both things can be true.”
“What things?”
“I deceived you about part of my life.”
He said nothing.
“And you became cruel.”
“That’s not—”
“You humiliated my mother.”
“I was angry.”
“You called her trash.”
“I said something disgusting.”
The admission stopped me.
He continued quickly.
“I know that.”
I closed my eyes.
“I should never have said it.”
“No.”
“I should never have put her on that stage.”
“No.”
“I was trying to impress Sterling.”
“I know.”
“I had investors asking why your family looked like they wandered in from a bus station.”
My eyes opened.
“So you punished my mother.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You just did.”
“No, I’m explaining the pressure.”
“There is no explanation that helps.”
“Isabella, please.”
The word sounded unfamiliar in his mouth.
“I have made terrible mistakes.”
Leah was writing something on her pad.
I knew she wanted me off the call.
I should have listened.
Instead I asked, “Did you know Patricia was going to trip her?”
Jason went completely silent.
My chest tightened.
“Jason?”
“No.”
The answer came late.
Too late for comfort, not late enough for proof.
“Did you see your mother put her foot out?”
“No.”
“Did she tell you afterward?”
“No.”
“Did you believe Mom fell on her own?”
“At first.”
“At first?”
“I saw the hotel video later.”
I stood.
“When?”
“Last night.”
“Before your public statement?”
Silence again.
My pulse hammered.
“Jason.”
“Yes.”
“You saw video showing Patricia deliberately putting her foot into the aisle.”
He exhaled.
May you like
“It looked bad.”
“And then you posted that it was an unfortunate accident.”
