Chương 5
“What about Margaret’s hundred and twenty?”
Elena frowned.
“What hundred and twenty?”
Chloe told her.
Elena’s expression went flat.
“That wasn’t disclosed.”
“No.”
“Equity or loan?”
“I don’t know.”
“We need the document.”
“I’ll get it.”
Elena leaned back.
“Chloe, I want to say something you may not enjoy.”
“That has never stopped you.”
“You are not responsible for fixing this because you can.”
Chloe looked at her.
Elena continued.
“Money creates an ugly illusion. If a problem is smaller than your balance sheet, everyone starts calling it solvable.”
“It is solvable.”
“Financially? Maybe. Humanly? Different question.”
Chloe stared at the document.
“There are thirty-eight employees.”
“Thirty-six according to payroll.”
“Marcus said thirty-eight.”
“Two left last month.”
Another lie.
Or maybe another delay in updating a spreadsheet.
With Marcus, she was beginning to dislike how often she had to ask which.
“What happens if payroll fails?”
“Depends. Some leave immediately. Some wait. State and federal wage rules become relevant. Vendors tighten. Landlords get nervous. The senior lender may act if there’s a default.”
“I’m not letting employees get used as leverage.”
Elena nodded.
“Then separate employees from owners.”
Chloe looked up.
“How?”
“You can fund payroll through a controlled account if Marcus agrees to conditions.”
“He won’t.”
“Then you don’t fund it.”
“People don’t get paid because he’s proud?”
“No. People don’t get paid because the business failed. You are deciding whether to intervene. Those are different sentences.”
Chloe looked down.
She hated when Elena was right in complete paragraphs.
“What conditions?”
“Independent review. Direct payroll funding. No distributions to owners. No new debt. Full access to books. No use of your name or Liam’s assets. Short term only.”
“And security?”
“Whatever is realistically available, probably junior.”
“So I might lose it.”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Two payroll cycles plus taxes? Under two hundred thousand.”
Chloe nodded.
She had once lost more than that in a single afternoon of market movement and gone to dinner afterward.
That did not make two hundred thousand meaningless.
It made the comparison uncomfortable.
“What about rescuing the whole business?”
Elena gave her a look.
“No.”
“You didn’t even look at your notes.”
“I looked at them yesterday.”
“Maybe restructuring—”
“Chloe.”
She stopped.
Elena’s voice softened.
“You are trying to buy Liam out of a family problem.”
Chloe looked away.
“No.”
“You brought me Marcus’s financials because Liam was going to risk his condo.”
“That is different.”
“Is it?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Chloe opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Elena waited.
Finally Chloe said, “He defended me.”
“So?”
“So I don’t want him punished for loving his sister.”
Elena’s expression changed slightly.
“Then talk to your husband before you spend money trying to reward him.”
The sentence followed Chloe all the way home.
Liam returned at six that evening.
He let himself in with his key, placed his overnight bag beside the door, and stood in the foyer as though unsure whether he lived there.
Chloe was at the dining table with papers spread in front of her.
He looked at them.
“More secrets?”
She winced.
“Fair.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No. You earned that one.”
He walked to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator.
This time he took out a bottle of water.
Chloe watched him unscrew the cap.
“How’s Eric?”
“Annoying.”
“That sounds normal.”
“He ordered pizza with pineapple.”
“You should end the friendship.”
Liam looked at her.
The corner of his mouth moved.
A small thing.
Then it disappeared.
He sat across from her.
“What are the papers?”
“Marcus’s debt.”
“Why are you still involved?”
“Because your mother put a hundred and twenty thousand dollars into the business.”
Liam’s water bottle stopped halfway to his mouth.
“What?”
Chloe told him what Brittany had said.
His face changed by degrees.
Disbelief.
Anger.
Then something more tired.
“She told me she had moved money because her adviser was too conservative.”
“Maybe that was the money.”
“A hundred and twenty.”
“Yes.”
“That’s a lot for her.”
“I know.”
He looked at the table.
“She has maybe five hundred total outside the house. Maybe less.”
Chloe said nothing.
Liam laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
“What?”
“She spent twenty years telling Brittany and me that Dad almost destroyed the family because he took risks.”
Chloe had met Liam’s father only once before he died, when they had been dating for four months. He had been thin from cancer, funny in a dry way, and had apologized for falling asleep while Chloe told a story about getting trapped in an elevator.
“What risks?”
“Bad investments. Restaurants. A friend’s construction company. He kept thinking one good deal would fix the last bad deal.”
“And Margaret hated that.”
“She never forgave him.”
Liam rubbed his forehead.
“Then she gives Marcus a hundred and twenty grand.”
“People are inconsistent.”
“That’s a generous word.”
He picked up one of the reports.
“What are you planning?”
“I was considering funding payroll directly.”
His eyes lifted.
“No.”
“Listen.”
“No.”
“Thirty-six employees shouldn’t lose a paycheck because Marcus lied.”
“That is not your responsibility.”
“I know.”
He stared at her.
She stopped.
“Sorry.”
He looked down again.
“What does directly mean?”
“Controlled account. Independent oversight. No money to Marcus or Brittany. Full financial access.”
“For how long?”
“Two payroll cycles.”
“And then?”
“They either restructure, sell, close locations, or fail.”
Liam leaned back.
“That sounds cold.”
“It’s meant to.”
“You’re going to give him two hundred thousand dollars and call that cold?”
“I might lose two hundred thousand dollars.”
“You can afford to.”
“Yes.”
He looked at her.
She held his gaze.
“That doesn’t mean I should.”
He was quiet.
Then he nodded.
“Okay.”
It was the first time since the restaurant that they had agreed on anything important.
His phone buzzed.
He looked at the screen.
“Brittany.”
“Answer.”
He did.
“Hey.”
Chloe could hear Brittany talking fast on the other end.
Liam’s face tightened.
“Slow down.”
More words.
“What do you mean he’s gone?”
Chloe sat straighter.
Liam stood.
“When did he leave?”
May you like
He listened.
“No, don’t go through his office. Britt, stop. Listen to me. Don’t move anything.”
