Chương 6
“It wasn’t one.”
Her gaze moved to me.
“Alyssa.”
“Ruth.”
Then to Daniel.
“Your phone.”
He handed it over immediately.
Aaron laughed under his breath.
“You people have lost your minds.”
Ruth looked at him.
“Have we?”
“I have a deal closing today.”
“You had a deal closing today.”
His face sharpened.
“Had?”
“The acquisition committee suspended negotiations twenty minutes ago.”
Aaron went still.
I felt the consequence before he showed it.
Eight billion dollars.
Months of preparation.
Banks.
Lawyers.
Investor promises.
Press expectations.
Gone from motion to paralysis in twenty minutes.
“On whose authority?” he asked.
“Mine, pending full board confirmation.”
“You cannot do that alone.”
“I can recommend it, and our counsel can advise a halt while we determine whether representations made to the sellers were accurate.”
“They were accurate.”
“Then this should be brief.”
Aaron stared at her.
Ruth stared back.
She had spent thirty-five years surviving men who mistook volume for authority.
Aaron knew it.
He looked away first.
Ruth turned to Jasmine.
“You too.”
Jasmine blinked.
“Me?”
“You are named in several records.”
“I’m an assistant.”
“Then you should have very little to explain.”
That did not reassure her.
We walked inside together.
The terminal’s private conference level was usually quiet, designed for people rich enough to dislike waiting rooms.
Today, assistants and executives crowded the corridor.
Two people stopped talking when Aaron passed.
He noticed.
Of course he noticed.
Humiliation had finally become visible to him.
We entered a glass-walled conference room where six directors were already seated.
No one rose.
That, more than anything, seemed to hit Aaron.
He normally entered rooms that reorganized themselves around him.
Today the room simply waited.
Ruth closed the door.
“Phones on the table.”
Aaron remained standing.
“This is absurd.”
“Phones.”
He looked at each director.
Nobody supported him.
He placed his phone down.
Jasmine did the same.
So did Daniel.
I stayed near the wall.
Aaron noticed.
“Why does she get to keep hers?”
Ruth looked at me.
“Are you an officer of Prescott Technologies?”
“No.”
“Then she keeps it.”
Aaron laughed.
“Perfect.”
The general counsel joined by secure video on the wall monitor.
His name was Marcus Bell.
He looked as if he had not slept.
“Everyone here?”
Ruth nodded.
Marcus took a breath.
“We have two immediate issues.”
Aaron sat.
“Get to the point.”
Marcus looked at him through the screen.
“I am trying.”
The room went silent.
“First, the Hawthorne licensing entity issued a formal notice of compliance review this morning after multiple disclosure deficiencies remained unresolved.”
He glanced down at his notes.
“Second, our internal treasury team identified transfers from acquisition reserve accounts into instruments connected to Mercer Strategic Partners.”
Aaron leaned back.
“You’re overstating it.”
Marcus did not react.
“We will determine that.”
Jasmine shifted in her chair.
Her knee bounced under the table.
Marcus continued.
“We also identified documents suggesting revenue rights associated with licensed patent portfolios may have been pledged as collateral.”
One director swore quietly.
Another took off his glasses and rubbed both eyes.
Ruth looked at Aaron.
“Did you authorize that?”
“Yes.”
No one moved.
Aaron’s answer was too quick.
Marcus leaned closer to the camera.
“In what capacity?”
“As CEO.”
“You may not have had authority.”
“I absolutely had authority.”
“Not if the assets belonged to a separate licensing entity.”
“The company generated the revenue.”
“That is not the same as owning the underlying rights.”
Aaron looked toward me.
“That distinction was never enforced.”
I felt heat rise in my chest.
“Because no one tried to pledge them before.”
“This is exactly what I mean.”
He pointed at me.
“Your family leaves agreements vague until it benefits them.”
Marcus cut in.
“The agreement is not vague.”
Aaron looked at the screen.
Marcus continued.
“Section fourteen requires written consent before any security interest involving royalty streams tied to licensed patents.”
Aaron’s face tightened.
“I was advised differently.”
“By whom?”
Silence.
Ruth leaned forward.
“Who advised you?”
Aaron looked at Jasmine.
She stopped breathing for a second.
I saw it.
So did Ruth.
Jasmine shook her head.
“No.”
Aaron’s gaze hardened.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You looked at me.”
“Because you handled the Mercer file.”
“I scheduled calls.”
“You circulated legal summaries.”
“Because you told me to.”
Her voice cracked.
The room changed.
Not loudly.
But everyone became attentive in the same instant.
Marcus spoke carefully.
“Jasmine, who prepared those summaries?”
She stared at the table.
“Aaron’s outside adviser.”
“What adviser?”
“I don’t know.”
Aaron said, “She means Mercer.”
Jasmine looked up sharply.
“No.”
Aaron turned to her.
“What?”
“I don’t mean Mercer.”
The words came out barely above a whisper.
Daniel sat forward.
“Then who?”
Jasmine’s eyes filled with panic.
“My father.”
No one spoke.
Aaron stared at her.
“Your father is Mercer.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“He founded Mercer, but that isn’t what I mean.”
Ruth’s voice was very calm.
“What do you mean?”
Jasmine looked toward Aaron again.
“I mean he sent me legal notes separately.”
Aaron’s face changed.
“When?”
“After the first collateral discussion.”
“You never told me that.”
“You knew.”
“I did not.”
“You did.”
Her voice rose.
“You told me to stop putting his name in emails.”
The room became completely still.
Aaron stood.
“That is a lie.”
Jasmine recoiled.
“It is not.”
“You are panicking.”
“You said it was cleaner.”
“I never said that.”
“You said compliance people made everything harder when names appeared in writing.”
“I said regulators misinterpret informal discussions.”
“You told me to call him from my personal phone.”
Aaron pointed at her.
“You are confused.”
Jasmine’s face crumpled for half a second.
Then anger replaced fear.
“No.”
She stood too.
“You do not get to do this.”
Ruth raised a hand.
“Sit down, both of you.”
Neither moved.
Marcus’s voice came through the screen.
“Jasmine, do you still have that personal phone?”
She looked at him.
“Yes.”
“Where is it?”
“In my bag.”
Aaron turned toward her.
May you like
“Do not touch anything.”
The irony was so sharp Daniel almost laughed.
