Chương 9
“What did you tell him?”
“That you had a difficult delivery and needed space.”
Leah’s coffee cup touched the table with a sharp click.
Catherine said, “That makes me the problem.”
“I was protecting your privacy.”
“You were protecting the vote.”
“I was protecting both.”
“Does he know about Amber?”
“No.”
“Does anyone?”
“Amber’s attorney.”
Catherine looked at him.
“Why does Amber have an attorney?”
Michael lowered his eyes to the baby.
“She’s threatening to file a complaint.”
“What kind of complaint?”
“She says I retaliated against her after ending the relationship.”
“Did you?”
“I removed her from the merger team.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
“After the hospital?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she sent that message. Because she came to the hospital when I told her not to. Because she made everything worse.”
Catherine felt cold despite the warm room.
“She made everything worse.”
“That isn’t what I mean.”
“You keep saying exactly what you mean.”
Michael adjusted Eleanor against his chest. “She recorded conversations.”
“What conversations?”
“I don’t know.”
“How do you know she recorded them?”
“She told me.”
“When?”
“This morning.”
“What does she want?”
“To remain in her position through the merger. A severance package. A statement that she did not violate company policy.”
“Did she violate company policy?”
“Yes.”
“So did you.”
Michael looked at Leah. “Can Catherine and I have one private conversation?”
“No,” Catherine said.
He breathed through his nose and looked back down at Eleanor.
“She claims I promised to leave you,” he said.
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Did you say your marriage was over?”
Silence.
Catherine waited.
“I said we were struggling.”
“Did you say you slept in separate rooms?”
“We did for two weeks.”
“Because I had pneumonia and you were traveling.”
“I didn’t explain that part.”
Leah walked out of the room.
Michael’s shame looked real.
So did his irritation at being shamed.
Catherine sat again because her body could no longer hold her upright.
“What did you tell her about the baby?”
“That we were having one.”
“Michael.”
He looked toward the window.
“I said the pregnancy complicated things.”
Catherine’s hand closed around the edge of the sofa cushion.
Eleanor began to stir in his arms.
Michael rocked her instinctively.
“She was a complication to you before she had a name.”
“No.”
“That’s what you told Amber.”
“I was trying to make her understand why I couldn’t make any decisions.”
“You told her what she needed to hear so she would keep giving you whatever you wanted.”
His eyes flashed. “I didn’t plan this.”
“That doesn’t make it better.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
He looked down at the baby and said nothing.
When the visit ended, Michael handed Eleanor back with visible reluctance.
At the door, he said, “The board dinner is next Thursday.”
Catherine stared at him.
“I’m not asking you to attend.”
“You were about to.”
“I was going to say people will notice if you aren’t there.”
Leah, standing behind him, closed her eyes.
Michael continued. “We can say you’re recovering.”
“That happens to be true.”
“It will raise questions.”
“Then answer them.”
“I’m trying to prevent this from becoming public before we understand what Amber has.”
Catherine held Eleanor against her shoulder.
“Your affair is not a weather system, Michael. It didn’t become dangerous when Amber started recording you.”
He picked up his coat.
“I’m trying to save the company.”
“You’re trying to save yourself.”
“Four hundred people work there.”
The number landed where he intended.
Catherine knew many of those people. She had attended holiday parties, visited job sites, and helped redesign the company’s first office when Harrison Vale occupied one floor above a dental practice. She knew the receptionist’s husband had cancer. She knew Martin’s son had joined the accounting department and was terrible at small talk. She knew employees had options tied to the merger.
Michael saw her hesitation.
“That’s why this isn’t only personal,” he said.
Catherine looked at him.
“No,” she said. “It became more than personal when you brought it into the company.”
After he left, she stood at the front window and watched him carry the white roses back to his car.
He placed them on the passenger seat carefully.
On Monday, Ruth called.
“I received the documents you signed.”
Catherine was sitting in Leah’s kitchen, eating cold oatmeal with one hand while holding Eleanor with the other.
“What are they?”
“A consent acknowledging amendments to the shareholder agreement and confirming that you received information about the proposed merger.”
“That sounds routine.”
“It mostly is.”
“Mostly?”
“The second document contains a representation that no shareholder or immediate family member is aware of circumstances involving senior leadership that could materially affect the transaction.”
Catherine put down the spoon.
“Michael knew about the affair when I signed.”
“Yes.”
“So he had me make a false statement.”
“The language is broad. Whether the affair qualifies as material would be disputed. The more immediate concern is that he did not give you enough information to evaluate the statement.”
“Can I withdraw it?”
“Yes, but doing so may delay the transaction and trigger questions.”
“How long do I have?”
“The board votes Thursday. Financing documents follow. We should notify counsel before then if you intend to correct or qualify your statement.”
Catherine looked through the window. Leah’s backyard was scattered with plastic bats, a red wagon, and one wet mitten.
“If I say nothing?”
“The deal may proceed. If the relationship later becomes public, you may be asked why you signed.”
“Could employees lose their jobs if I withdraw?”
“Possibly. They could also lose jobs if the merger proceeds. Deals are rarely as simple as the person advocating for them suggests.”
Catherine rubbed her forehead.
Ruth continued. “I also received a letter from Amber Collins’s attorney.”
“Why?”
“It was addressed to company shareholders and directors. As a shareholder, you were included.”
May you like
“What does it say?”
“That Amber experienced an intimate relationship with Michael, that he made professional promises during that relationship, and that he removed her from duties after she declined to keep the relationship private.”
