Chương 9
Emma answered:
Fine.
Any changes?
No.
At thirty-four weeks, he wrote:
I felt her kick every night for months. I miss that more than I know how to explain.
Emma did not respond.
She set the phone down and cried into a bowl of cereal.
She hated him.
She loved him.
She missed him.
She did not want him back.
All four things remained true at once.
Rachel continued investigating the financial documents.
No forged signature appeared.
No secret transfer.
No completed authorization.
But there were repeated drafts, internal emails, and projections assuming potential Carter capital.
Cole Meridian’s investors hired separate counsel.
Negotiations began over restructuring the troubled fund.
Adrian had personally invested most of his liquid wealth to keep it afloat.
He sold an apartment he had owned before their marriage.
Then he sold his collection of vintage watches.
Emma learned that from Claire, who learned it from the internet.
“People are tracking his watches now?” Emma asked.
“Rich people have weird hobbies.”
“You own four handbags that cost more than my first car.”
“That is completely different.”
“How?”
“I don’t know enough about finance to answer.”
Emma smiled.
Then Rachel called.
“There’s a proposal.”
Emma’s smile disappeared.
Cole Meridian’s largest lender was willing to extend the restructuring period if several investors accepted reduced immediate withdrawals.
But the investors wanted clarity regarding the Carter reference.
“They want a letter from you,” Rachel said.
“Saying what?”
“That at the time of the presentation, Adrian reasonably expected you might provide family capital.”
Emma stared at the wall.
“Did he?”
Rachel chose her words.
“He may have reasonably believed you would consider it.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“No.”
Emma understood.
“They want me to make his implication sound legitimate.”
“They want reassurance it wasn’t fabricated.”
“Was it?”
“That depends on whether your past behavior gave him a basis to expect you would consider the request.”
Emma’s anger rose.
“My past behavior.”
“I am explaining their position, not endorsing it.”
“What happens if I refuse?”
“The restructuring becomes harder.”
“How much harder?”
“Potentially much harder.”
“Employees?”
“Cole Meridian has ninety-one employees.”
Emma closed her eyes.
There it was.
The cost.
Not Adrian.
People she did not know.
Assistants.
Analysts.
Receptionists.
People with rent and daycare and dental bills.
Emma hated that the decision had found innocent bodies to stand behind.
“What does Adrian want?”
“He asked that nobody contact you directly.”
That surprised her.
“He doesn’t want the letter?”
“I didn’t say that.”
Emma laughed without humor.
“Right.”
That evening Adrian called for the first time in three weeks.
Emma watched his name ring.
She answered.
“Hi.”
His voice was cautious.
“Hi.”
“You know about the proposal.”
“Yes.”
“I told them not to pressure you.”
“They’re pressuring me through Rachel.”
“I know.”
“Do you want me to sign?”
Silence.
“Adrian.”
“Yes.”
Emma closed her eyes.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For answering.”
He breathed out.
“I want you to sign because it would help keep the firm from being dismantled in a fire sale.”
“Would it save you?”
“Somewhat.”
“Your money?”
“Some.”
“Your reputation?”
“No.”
That answer sounded true.
Emma walked slowly through the kitchen.
“What exactly would I be saying?”
“That it was reasonable for me to believe you might consider supporting the fund.”
“Was it?”
Another pause.
“Yes.”
Emma stopped.
“You still think that.”
“I think before I betrayed you, if I had come home and told you ninety people might lose their jobs and investors could take a major loss unless we found temporary capital, you would have listened.”
Emma gripped the counter.
“That doesn’t mean you were entitled to tell people the money was coming.”
“No.”
“Then why should I help clean up the sentence?”
“You shouldn’t.”
Emma frowned.
“You just said you want me to sign.”
“I do.”
“But I don’t think you should.”
She nearly laughed.
“You are exhausting.”
“I know.”
For a moment neither spoke.
Then Adrian said, “If you sign something you don’t believe because you’re worried about my employees, you’ll hate me for putting you in that position. You already have enough reasons.”
Emma looked down at her bare feet.
“You did put me in this position.”
“Yes.”
“Do the employees know?”
“Most know the firm is restructuring. They don’t know the details.”
“How many lose their jobs if the restructuring fails?”
“I don’t know.”
“Estimate.”
“Thirty. Maybe more.”
Emma pressed her fingers into her forehead.
“I hate you.”
“I know.”
“No. You don’t.”
Adrian did not answer.
Emma’s voice broke for the first time.
“I wanted to have this baby with you.”
“I know.”
“I wanted you in the room.”
He made a sound then.
Small.
Not a sob.
Something worse because he tried to stop it.
Emma closed her eyes.
“I have to go.”
“Okay.”
She hung up.
The next morning, she told Rachel she would not sign the proposed letter.
Rachel nodded once.
“Okay.”
Emma stared.
“That’s it?”
“You made a decision.”
“I expected an argument.”
“I’m your attorney, not your conscience.”
“That sounds suspiciously like something a conscience would say.”
Rachel ignored that.
Emma pushed another paper across the table.
“I want to do something else.”
Rachel read it.
Then looked up.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because you are trying to rescue everyone.”
“I’m not rescuing Adrian.”
“You are proposing a direct employee assistance fund for people affected by layoffs.”
“Yes.”
“Using your personal unrestricted assets.”
“Yes.”
“Administered through the foundation.”
“If legally appropriate.”
Rachel rubbed her forehead.
“You drafted this at three in the morning, didn’t you?”
“Two-thirty.”
“You’re impossible.”
“Can it be done?”
“Probably not through your foundation in the way you drafted it.”
“Fine. Another structure.”
Rachel studied her.
“You understand you are not responsible for these employees.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Emma looked away.
Rachel waited.
Finally Emma said, “No.”
“That’s what concerns me.”
May you like
Emma folded her hands over her belly.
“I don’t want to save his company. I don’t want to validate what he did. But if people lose jobs because he used my name while assuming I would eventually say yes, I’m part of the story whether I like it or not.”
