Chương 13
“Why?”
“Because apparently my home belongs to his father.”
“That isn’t true.”
“Do you know that, or do you want it to be true?”
Ellen set the bag on the counter. “Your father is downstairs.”
Claire stood. “He is not coming up.”
“He wants us all to talk.”
“No.”
“He has a proposal.”
“No.”
Vanessa sat up. “What proposal?”
Claire looked at her.
Vanessa shrugged. “I didn’t say I’d agree.”
Ellen opened the grocery bag. This time it contained biscuits, a thermos of coffee, and three peeled oranges in a plastic container. She lined them up on the counter because organizing food was easier than facing either daughter.
“Cypress Ridge will restore the original price,” Ellen said, “if the family signs releases and withdraws the allegations.”
Claire stared at her.
“That is false.”
“Richard said—”
“Cypress Ridge cannot ask us to withdraw allegations. Their counsel would never make that condition.”
“He has it in writing.”
“Show me.”
Ellen took a folded page from her purse.
Claire read it.
The letter was from an intermediary representing the Ohio strategic buyer that had withdrawn months earlier. It proposed reopening discussions at an enterprise value “up to $31.5 million,” subject to full diligence, financing, and resolution of all related-party claims. It required Richard to provide an exclusive negotiation period of sixty days.
It was not an offer.
It was not from Cypress Ridge.
And the phrase “up to” made the number almost meaningless.
“He wants you to release the trust claim so this buyer will return,” Ellen said.
“This buyer left after seeing the customer contracts.”
“They say they are willing to reconsider.”
“After sixty days. The company may not have sixty days.”
“Your father believes the bank will cooperate.”
“The bank froze advances.”
“He has another source.”
“Who?”
Ellen glanced toward Vanessa.
Vanessa stood. “Daniel’s father?”
“He may extend the loan.”
“In exchange for what?”
“The remaining interest in the house LLC.”
Vanessa went still.
Claire placed the letter on the counter. “Richard wants Mom to give Daniel’s family the rest of the house, wants Vanessa tied to a man who locked her out, and wants me to waive the trust claim so he can chase a conditional price that may never happen.”
“He believes the company is worth more than twenty-seven.”
“Then he should find a buyer before payroll.”
“He has spent his life building it.”
“And now he is spending everyone else to keep his name on it.”
Ellen’s face hardened. “You think because you left, you are clean.”
Claire stopped.
Her mother stood straighter. “You knew he was difficult. You knew Vanessa depended on him. You knew I had never handled the accounts. You left anyway. You sent money when it made you feel useful and came home twice a year with opinions.”
Vanessa whispered, “Mom.”
“No. She wants honesty.”
Claire felt each sentence enter without defense.
Ellen continued. “You could have helped years ago. You could have joined the company. You could have taken over the finances. Richard would have fought you, yes, but you know how to fight. I did not.”
“You are blaming me for the trust?”
“I am saying everyone chose what they could live with.”
“I was twenty-two when I left.”
“And I was fifty when your father first put papers in front of me and said the company would fail if I did not sign. I had never had a job that paid enough to support myself. I had a mortgage, two daughters angry in different directions, and a husband who could make a closed door feel like a verdict.”
Claire’s anger did not disappear. It changed shape.
“You still signed,” she said.
“Yes.”
Ellen looked at both daughters. “I signed.”
The admission seemed to take strength from her legs. She sat in the single chair by the kitchenette.
“I signed the house into the LLC,” she said. “I signed the trust transfer. I signed the new loan. I did not read all of it. Sometimes I read and did not understand. Sometimes I understood and signed anyway.”
Vanessa sat on the bed.
Claire remained standing.
“Why are you telling us now?” she asked.
“Because Richard wants me to sign the remaining house interest to Walnut Grove, and I told him no.”
The room was quiet except for the highway.
“What happened?” Claire asked.
“He said I would be responsible for every job lost.”
Ellen looked down at her hands.
“I told him I already was.”
Vanessa crossed the room and knelt beside her.
Ellen touched Vanessa’s hair. “I’m sorry about Daniel.”
“I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“Neither do I.”
Claire looked toward the door. “Where is Dad?”
“In the car.”
“Does he know you told us?”
“No.”
“Do you have the house documents?”
Ellen nodded. “In my purse.”
“Call your lawyer.”
“I don’t have one.”
“Rebecca can refer you.”
Ellen’s mouth tightened. “I don’t want one of your lawyers.”
“Then choose your own.”
“I don’t know how.”
Claire took out her phone, then stopped.
She had spent days telling everyone to get independent counsel while assuming she would select the independence.
“Ask Martin Bell for three names,” she said. “Choose one without telling Dad or me until you are ready.”
Ellen nodded slowly.
A knock came at the door.
Richard’s voice followed. “Ellen.”
No one moved.
He knocked again.
“Claire, open the door.”
Vanessa stood.
Claire said, “You do not have to answer.”
Richard knocked a third time, harder. “This is not a game.”
Ellen rose from the chair. She looked frightened enough that Claire wanted to block the door. Instead, she let her mother decide.
Ellen walked across the room and opened it only as far as the security latch allowed.
Richard stood in the hallway wearing a navy suit and no tie.
“Come downstairs,” he said.
“No.”
His expression changed. “What did you tell them?”
“The truth I know.”
“You do not know the truth.”
“I know what I signed.”
“We discussed this.”
May you like
“You discussed. I listened.”
“Open the door.”
