Part 8
“Is he alone?”
“Yes.”
“Tell him no.”
A minute later, Julian called.
Claire answered.
“I need ten minutes,” he said.
“You can speak through counsel.”
“I don’t want counsel.”
“That is usually when you need it.”
“This is about us.”
“There is no us.”
He was quiet.
“I found the divorce petition,” Claire added. “You planned to serve me next week.”
“I wanted to settle privately.”
“You announced an engagement publicly.”
“My mother pushed for the party.”
“You stood beside Celeste.”
“Let me come up.”
“No.”
“Claire, I am not going to hurt you.”
She looked toward the balcony doors.
“You already did.”
“I lost control once.”
“Once was enough.”
His breath caught, almost too faint to hear.
“Then come downstairs,” he said. “Walter can stay.”
Sofia would have told her not to go.
Claire went.
Julian stood near the lobby windows wearing a dark overcoat over an open-collared shirt. Without the tuxedo and the mansion behind him, he looked younger. Tired. Human in a way she resented.
Walter remained near the front desk.
Julian glanced at him.
“He works for you now?”
“He works for himself.”
“That sounds like something you would say.”
“What do you want?”
Julian shoved his hands into his coat pockets.
“The board found evidence of the refinancing plan.”
“I know.”
“They think I tried to strip assets.”
“You did.”
“I was protecting the company from Northline.”
“From me.”
“I didn’t know it was you when we took the loan.”
“You knew in September.”
“And you knew the entire time.”
“Yes.”
He looked away.
Outside, rain darkened the pavement. A delivery driver sheltered beneath the awning while checking his phone.
“You let me beg strangers for money,” Julian said.
“I arranged one hundred eighty million dollars in six days.”
“You watched me sign control of my family’s company to you.”
“You had counsel.”
“Counsel did not know who controlled the lender.”
“Counsel reviewed the terms.”
“You betrayed me.”
Claire stared at him.
The word was so audacious she almost admired it.
“You slapped me at your engagement party.”
“That was wrong.”
“You paid Celeste fourteen million dollars from company accounts.”
“She worked for us.”
“You backdated contracts.”
“Daniel handled the paperwork.”
“You planned to move properties away from lenders.”
“To refinance your debt.”
“You lied in certifications.”
“I saved the company.”
“And bought your mistress a house.”
His jaw tightened.
“Celeste is cooperating because you blamed her,” Claire said.
“She is protecting herself.”
“Yes.”
Julian looked toward Walter again.
“Everyone protects themselves eventually.”
“Is that your apology?”
“I said hitting you was wrong.”
“No. You said it was wrong. You did not say you were sorry.”
His face changed.
For one moment, she saw the man who used to sit on the floor beside her bed during migraines, holding a glass of water and rubbing circles against her wrist. She hated that those memories did not vanish when he became cruel.
“I am sorry,” he said.
Claire felt nothing.
The absence frightened her more than anger.
“For the slap?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“What about the rest?”
Julian’s gaze hardened again.
“The rest is complicated.”
“No. The rest is expensive.”
He stepped closer.
Walter moved from the desk.
Claire raised one hand, stopping him.
Julian noticed the bandage.
“Is it bad?”
“The handbag cut me.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“You didn’t think.”
He rubbed his face.
“Northline is going to destroy the company,” he said. “The lenders want asset sales. The board is panicking. My mother cannot access half the family accounts.”
“Essential expenses are available.”
“She has never had to request approval to pay household staff.”
“Now she does.”
“You enjoy that.”
Claire considered lying.
“Yes,” she said. “A small part of me does.”
Julian looked almost relieved.
“There you are.”
“What does that mean?”
“The part of you that wants to win more than you want to be good.”
She absorbed the insult because it was not entirely false.
“What are you offering?” she asked.
He took an envelope from his coat.
“A settlement.”
She did not touch it.
“Terms?”
“You release Northline’s control claim and support the refinancing. I resign from day-to-day management for one year. Celeste returns the remaining funds. You and I file an uncontested divorce.”
“And the properties you planned to transfer?”
“Stay with the company.”
“The backdated contracts?”
“Handled internally.”
“The false certificates?”
“No admission.”
“The board members who knew?”
“No public accusation.”
“The employees?”
“Protected if the refinancing closes.”
“And you?”
“I keep my shares.”
Claire looked at him.
“You hit me because you thought I had no power,” she said. “Now you are offering temporary leave because you discovered I do.”
“I am trying to prevent a collapse.”
“You are trying to remain an Ashford.”
“I am an Ashford.”
“That may be the only thing you never had to earn.”
His face closed.
Claire took the envelope and handed it to Walter without opening it.
“Send it to Sofia.”
Julian turned toward the doors.
“Claire.”
She waited.
“If you force a public investigation, your Northline ownership will become part of discovery. So will your communications during the loan.”
“I know.”
“People will say you engineered this.”
“They already do.”
“They will examine every decision you made in our marriage.”
“Then they will be busy.”
He looked at her for a long moment.
“You always wanted my mother to respect you.”
“Yes.”
“She never will.”
Claire glanced at Walter, then at the rain outside.
“I think I can survive that now.”
The settlement offer divided Claire’s advisers.
Martin favored negotiation. Northline could be repaid through refinancing, avoiding a risky restructuring.
Denise opposed any deal that concealed false certifications.
Sofia believed the offer protected Julian more than the company but warned that litigation could last years.
Claire wanted to reject it immediately.
Instead, she asked for forty-eight hours.
May you like
During those hours, she visited the Charleston hotel.
She did not announce the trip publicly. Walter drove her from the airport in a rented sedan. The property stood near the water in a restored nineteenth-century building with blue shutters and a courtyard shaded by live oaks.
