Chapter 9 - The Man Who Knew
I called Neil immediately.
He answered on the first ring.
“Claire.”
“Where are you?”
“Not safe to say.”
“Try.”
He exhaled.
“I’m in my car.”
“Why were you meeting Vivian Whitmore?”
Silence.
Ethan stood beside me, listening.
Neil finally said, “Because they approached me eight months ago.”
“About what?”
“Meridian.”
My voice turned cold.
“You told the board there had been no contact.”
“I lied.”
I closed my eyes.
“Why?”
“They had leverage.”
“What leverage?”
“My brother owed money. A lot of it. Whitmore Holdings bought the debt.”
Ethan whispered, “Jesus.”
Neil continued.
“They wanted internal projections. Voting schedules. Your travel calendar. Nothing that looked catastrophic at first.”
“You gave them my travel calendar?”
“I’m sorry.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
His breathing sounded ragged.
“Then they asked about your relationship with Ethan.”
I looked at my husband.
“What about it?”
“They wanted to know if the engagement was real.”
A cold feeling spread through me.
“Why?”
“Because Vivian said marriage could solve the acquisition problem without a public fight.”
Ethan stepped closer to the phone.
“Neil, did my mother arrange for me to meet Claire?”
Neil went silent.
Ethan’s face changed.
“Answer me.”
“I don’t know how much was arranged.”
“Answer.”
Neil said quietly, “The hospital group that hired you was introduced by Martin.”
I looked at Ethan.
He looked hit.
Our first meeting.
The conference.
The hospital dinner.
Had all of it been engineered?
“No,” Ethan whispered.
Neil said, “I’m not saying your relationship was fake.”
“That is exactly what you’re saying,” Ethan snapped.
“No. I’m saying they created the opportunity.”
I swallowed.
“What was supposed to happen tonight?”
Neil’s voice dropped.
“They wanted a temporary incapacity event.”
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“What does that mean?”
“A few hours of confusion. Maybe unconsciousness. Enough for a doctor to document it, enough to trigger emergency authority, enough to submit the proxy.”
Ethan’s voice shook with fury.
“You knew?”
“I found out two days ago.”
“And you waited until now?”
“I was trying to get proof.”
“You could have warned her.”
“I am warning her.”
“After my father drank it.”
Neil cursed under his breath.
Then he said, “Richard wasn’t supposed to be involved.”
I looked toward the ballroom doors.
Vivian was gone.
“Where is Ethan’s mother?”
No one answered.
Neil’s voice came urgently through the phone.
“Claire, listen to me. If Vivian thinks the first plan failed, she’ll go for the backup.”
“What backup?”
A pause.
Then Neil said, “Your signature doesn’t matter if they can get Ethan’s.”
I turned toward my husband.
He frowned.
“What can I sign?”
Neil answered before I could.
“The merger consent.”
And at that exact moment, Ethan’s phone lit up with an email from Martin Cole.
May you like
Subject line:
URGENT FAMILY AUTHORIZATION — SIGN BEFORE MIDNIGHT.
