Chapter 14 - Adrian’s Bargain
Adrian agreed to talk only if I came in person.
I almost refused.
Then Miriam said, “If Elliot contacted him before the arrest, we need details.”
So I went to the detention center with Dad’s attorney and a detective.
Adrian looked smaller in jail clothes.
The polished CEO was gone.
He sat behind glass with bruised shadows under his eyes.
“Vanessa lied about the baby,” he said.
“I know.”
His face twisted.
“I deserved that.”
“You deserved the truth. What you did to me is separate.”
He nodded.
“I’m pleading guilty to the assault.”
“That’s between you and the prosecutor.”
“I’m not asking you to forgive me.”
“Good.”
He looked down at his hands.
“Elliot approached me two years ago. He said he could improve margins by consolidating vendors. I signed what he put in front of me.”
“Without reading?”
“I read enough to feel smart and not enough to be responsible.”
That sounded painfully accurate.
“Did you know he was stealing?”
“Not at first. Later I suspected.”
“And you did nothing.”
“I told myself growth would cover everything.”
“What does that even mean?”
“It means I was a coward.”
The detective leaned forward. “Where is Marsh?”
Adrian swallowed. “He owns a farmhouse under another name near Lake Mercer.”
“How do you know?”
“He took me there once. No phones allowed. He called it the place where problems disappear.”
My skin prickled.
“Why didn’t you tell police?”
“I did this morning.”
“Then why demand me?”
His eyes met mine.
“Because there’s something else.”
I waited.
“Three months ago, Elliot asked me what would happen to Hawthorne voting shares if you died without children.”
My stomach dropped.
“What did you say?”
“I told him I didn’t know you had Hawthorne shares.”
“He said, ‘Everyone has something they don’t know they own.’”
Miriam went still.
The detective stood.
Dad had created a trust for me when I was born. I had never cared about the details.
If I died, the shares reverted according to a complicated succession structure.
Miriam called Dad.
He answered immediately.
She asked one question.
Then her face changed.
“What?” I demanded.
She looked at me.
“If you die without descendants, a block of your voting shares passes into the employee foundation.”
“So?”
May you like
“The foundation’s financial administrator is Vale Meridian’s current CFO.”
Elliot Marsh.
