Part 7
“That does not make you loyal.”
“No.”
“What does it make you?”
“Available.”
He left.
Elena locked the office door and sat alone.
The black card lay beside her keyboard.
On the internet, people continued sharing her smile as if it proved she had expected every consequence. She watched the clip once with the sound off.
The woman on the screen looked composed.
Elena disliked her.
At six, Sloane arrived without an appointment.
Security called before allowing her upstairs. Elena almost refused. Then she remembered Richard’s instruction not to give Sloane the folder until after closing.
Sloane entered carrying the same chain-strap handbag from the lounge. Her blond hair was pulled into a loose ponytail. Without the silver dress and public posture, she looked tired enough to be honest.
She placed her phone on Elena’s desk.
The screen displayed Richard’s signed statement.
“How did you get that?” Elena asked.
“My father sent it to me.”
“When?”
“An hour ago.”
Elena read the message above the document.
Read all of it before calling anyone.
Richard’s statement admitted the reserve shortfall, the false occupancy reporting, his delay, and Weller’s side negotiations. It also stated that Sloane had not been informed of the reserve transfers or falsified reports.
Sloane sat.
“My father is protecting me,” she said.
“Is he lying?”
“Not about that.”
“What did you know?”
Sloane gripped the handbag chain.
“I knew cash was tight. I knew Halberd wanted executive changes. I knew Charles was preparing a transaction.”
“Did you know Weller would receive an interest through his brother-in-law?”
“No.”
“Did you know the reports were altered?”
“No.”
“Did you ask why the company needed emergency financing?”
“My father said the developments were delayed.”
“They were failing.”
“He said delayed.”
Elena leaned back.
“You were about to lead a division.”
“I was told I was.”
“Did you review its budget?”
“Charles handled it.”
“Did you review its contracts?”
“The legal team did.”
“Did you—”
“I understand what you are doing.”
“What am I doing?”
“Making me admit I did not deserve the job.”
Elena said nothing.
Sloane’s eyes reddened, but she did not cry.
“My father promised me that division for eight years,” she said. “Every time I asked for real authority, he gave me another event to host, another design committee, another charity partnership. Then he told people I lacked operating experience.”
“You did.”
“How was I supposed to get it?”
“By doing work he did not assign you.”
“That is easy to say when nobody invited you to smile beside them instead.”
Elena looked at her.
Sloane continued. “You think I laughed because I am stupid.”
“I think you laughed because you believed I was powerless.”
“Yes.”
The answer was immediate.
Elena folded her hands.
“Why?”
“Because Charles said your financing had failed. He said you had spent months pretending to control the sale, but Halberd had beaten you. He said you came upstairs to threaten us before security removed you.”
“And that was funny?”
Sloane looked down.
“At the time.”
“Two men recorded me.”
“I did not tell them to.”
“You did not tell them to stop.”
“No.”
Elena waited.
Sloane lifted her eyes.
“I was cruel.”
“Yes.”
“You enjoyed frightening me.”
“Yes.”
The two admissions sat between them.
Outside the office, phones rang and elevators opened. The company continued functioning badly.
“What do you want?” Elena asked.
“My father wants me to cooperate with the investigation.”
“What do you want?”
“I want him not to die believing I helped Charles destroy the company.”
“That is not a business objective.”
“You asked what I wanted.”
Elena looked at Richard’s statement.
“What can you provide?”
“Emails. Meeting notes. Messages with Charles. I kept everything because he contradicted himself.”
“Why didn’t you tell the board?”
“I thought he was excluding me because he wanted the chief executive job.”
“He did.”
“I did not know he was also committing fraud.”
“Those motives can coexist.”
Sloane rubbed one thumb against the handbag chain.
“What happens to the employees?”
“We are building a restructuring plan.”
“Does that mean layoffs?”
“Probably some.”
“The tower?”
“We intend to keep it.”
“You said it belongs to you.”
“It belongs to a company controlled by my investors.”
“Then the video was a lie.”
“It was imprecise.”
Sloane almost smiled.
“You sound like Charles.”
The comparison irritated Elena because it was deserved.
“I control the company,” she said. “I do not own every chair personally.”
“What happens to me?”
“You do not currently hold an executive role.”
“My trust owns shares.”
“The shares were pledged and may be diluted.”
“So nothing.”
“You have information.”
“That is not a life.”
“No. It is a decision.”
Sloane looked toward the skyline.
“My father built that view into every room,” she said. “He said people behaved differently when they could see the city beneath them.”
“He was right.”
“He liked being right.”
“So did my father.”
Sloane turned back.
“Is that why you hate him?”
“I do not hate your father.”
“Then why did he say you might?”
Elena remained still.
Sloane’s expression changed.
“He knew your father,” she said.
“Briefly.”
“He told me there was a hotel.”
“Yes.”
“He said he paid him.”
“I know.”
“He said your father saved the project.”
Elena looked at Richard’s statement again.
“Why are you telling me?”
“Because you are deciding whether my family deserves to lose everything.”
“No. I am deciding how much loss the company can survive.”
“Those are the same thing to us.”
“That is the problem.”
Sloane stood.
She left her phone on the desk.
“You forgot this,” Elena said.
“The messages are on it.”
“You should give it to your attorney.”
“I made a copy.”
“Where?”
“With my attorney.”
Elena looked at the phone.
Sloane moved toward the door.
“Why are you cooperating?” Elena asked.
Sloane paused.
“Because Charles called me last night and said the board would believe whatever story we told together.”
“What story?”
“That you seduced my father into selling.”
May you like
Elena stared at her.
Sloane’s mouth tightened.
