Part 6
Malcolm raised one hand slightly. “Forty-eight hours may cause a default.”
“Whose default?” Priya asked.
“That is what we need to determine.”
The motion passed, six votes to one, with one abstention.
Mara did not vote.
When the call ended, Leonard remained onscreen.
“You surprised me,” he said.
“You were going to recommend recusal.”
“I was.”
“So I saved you the discomfort.”
“No. You took away my opportunity to look wise.”
Mara leaned back in the chair.
Leonard studied her face. “How bad is the swelling?”
“Not bad.”
“Have you seen a doctor?”
“Not yet.”
“Mara.”
“I have an appointment at ten.”
“Good.”
She looked toward the study door. Her mother had been pacing outside during the call, the floorboards making soft sounds.
“Did you speak to Nina?”
“She is frightened.”
“She shouldn’t come to the office.”
“She won’t. A courier is collecting her foundation laptop. I told her to preserve her personal phone and not edit the file.”
“Is Julian contacting her?”
“Six calls. Three messages. One from Evelyn’s attorney.”
Mara’s jaw tightened.
“What did the attorney say?”
“That Nina may have violated state recording laws.”
“Did she?”
“No. She was a participant in the room and recorded a conversation audible to her. But threats do not need legal merit to frighten a twenty-six-year-old assistant.”
“What do we do?”
“We pay for independent counsel for her.”
“Approved.”
“You are recused.”
“Then recommend it to Darius.”
Leonard nodded.
Mara glanced at the ring on the desk beside the computer.
“Julian said my father would be ashamed.”
Leonard looked at her for a long moment.
“Your father would be furious,” he said. “Mostly because someone else tried to control you before he had the chance.”
The comment was unfair.
It was also true enough that Mara laughed.
The laugh hurt her cheek.
Leonard’s expression softened.
Then he said, “Do not let grief make Julian innocent.”
The doctor at the private clinic photographed the bruising, checked Mara’s jaw, asked whether she had lost consciousness, and provided a written report. She also gave Mara a folded card with resources for intimate-partner violence.
Mara almost left it on the counter.
Then she put it in her clutch.
On the sidewalk afterward, three photographers were waiting.
They stood across the street at first, pretending to be interested in a florist’s delivery van. When Mara emerged, they crossed against traffic.
“Mara, is the wedding canceled?”
“Did Julian Vale attack you?”
“Is the Ellison Foundation insolvent?”
“Did you freeze eighty million dollars?”
The number stopped her for half a second.
It was wrong. The restricted transaction accounts held a little over thirty-one million, most of it pending capital that did not belong to either family outright.
The photographers saw the hesitation.
“Mara, is it eighty million?”
She kept walking.
Her mother’s car was at the curb. Tomas held the rear door open.
One photographer moved close enough that Mara smelled coffee on his breath.
“Did you set him up?”
Tomas stepped between them without touching the man.
Mara entered the car.
Inside, her phone displayed seventeen news alerts. None of the headlines matched what had happened. One said Billionaire Engagement Implodes in Midnight Money Dispute. Another called the transfer a family trust disagreement. A financial site reported that the Vale group’s “anticipated philanthropic merger” was in jeopardy.
There had never been a philanthropic merger.
Mara opened a message from Priya.
Do not read anything today.
Mara typed back, Too late.
Priya responded with a photograph of her kitchen sink filled with breakfast dishes.
Then at least remember everyone else’s life is also a mess.
Mara looked at the photograph longer than she expected.
At the Vale penthouse, Evelyn had not slept.
She sat at the long dining table in a silk robe while two attorneys, Julian, and the family office director argued over speakerphone. The candles from the previous night had burned down to wax. Someone had removed the champagne glasses but left a bowl of lemons in the center of the table.
Julian paced near the windows.
He had changed into trousers and a white shirt. His hair, usually controlled to the point of appearing sculpted, fell over his forehead.
“We need the board to release the restrictions by noon,” he said.
One of the attorneys replied through the speaker. “The foundation accounts are not yours.”
“The transaction accounts contain Vale contributions.”
“They contain escrowed commitments governed by joint authorization.”
“My authorization is being ignored.”
“Because the closing conditions have not been met.”
Julian looked at his mother. “Tell him.”
Evelyn stirred coffee she had not tasted.
“The Halcyon condition was contingent,” she said.
The family office director, a narrow-faced man named Robert Mays, shifted in his chair. “It became active Monday.”
Julian stopped pacing.
Evelyn’s spoon struck the cup.
“You told me Wednesday.”
“I told you we had until Wednesday to cure.”
“It is Thursday.”
“Yes.”
One attorney asked, “Has Halcyon issued notice?”
Robert looked toward Julian.
Julian turned to the windows.
Evelyn set down the spoon. “What have you not told me?”
“No notice has been issued,” Julian said.
“That is not an answer.”
“The facility failed a liquidity test yesterday morning.”
Evelyn’s face remained still.
Robert opened a folder. “Halcyon can demand an additional one hundred and twelve million in collateral or begin enforcement against Vale Strategic Holdings.”
The attorney’s voice changed. “Were Ellison shares represented as available collateral?”
“No,” Julian said.
Robert looked down.
Evelyn saw it.
“Robert.”
He swallowed. “They were listed as an anticipated post-closing asset.”
The room became quiet.
Evelyn stood.
“You said the document would stabilize voting control.”
“It would.”
“You did not say you had promised it to a lender.”
“I promised nothing. I disclosed an expectation.”
“You described another woman’s property as an expectation.”
Julian turned on her. “You told me she would sign.”
“I told you she loved you.”
“She does.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“No,” she said. “She did.”
May you like
Julian’s face tightened.
The attorney interrupted. “We need to know whether any representation to Halcyon could be considered materially misleading.”
