Chapter 7 - THE FIANCÉE WHO OWNED PART OF THE SECRET
“Elaine, did you sign any certification for that guarantee?” I asked.
Her voice trembled.
“I signed a financial-capacity statement. Jason said it was for the storm-repair financing.”
“Do you have a copy?”
“Yes.”
“Then send the original file to Tessa. Not a revised printout.”
Elaine nodded.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then she said something I hadn't expected.
“I should have challenged him sooner.”
“Yes,” I answered. “You should have.”
She looked as though the words hurt.
I continued.
“But right now, telling the truth matters more than protecting anybody's pride.”
On Monday morning, Daniel and I met with Lillian Cho, the bank's senior relationship manager.
We had notified her that Reed Harbor disputed the scope and authorization of the guarantee.
Lillian had worked with our company for years.
She didn't look pleased.
“Natalie, this creates a serious problem.”
“I'm aware.”
“The lender relied on the guarantee when extending the construction credit.”
“Then I suggest we establish exactly what information the lender was given.”
Daniel placed the approved board resolution beside the version contained in the financing package.
Lillian studied them.
Her expression sharpened.
“These aren't identical.”
“No,” Daniel replied.
“The additional language wasn't approved by our board.”
She leaned back.
“I'll refer this to our credit and compliance teams immediately. But the debt doesn't disappear simply because you're challenging the authorization.”
“I understand,” I said. “We want a standstill while the facts are examined.”
Lillian considered that.
Then she opened the borrower's ownership disclosure.
“The loan was made to Blue Heron Land Development.”
I nodded.
“Who owns it?”
She looked at the account information.
“Seventy percent is held through Jason Reed's private investment interest.”
I wasn't surprised.
Not anymore.
“Who owns the other thirty percent?”
Lillian hesitated, then turned the disclosure toward Daniel and me.
A familiar name appeared.
Mia Bennett.
I stared at it.
Mia.
The secretary who had tried to fire me.
The woman who believed she was engaged to my husband.
According to the bank's records, she owned thirty percent of the company benefiting from the disputed transfers.
Daniel looked at me.
“Natalie?”
I shook my head slowly.
“I need to speak with her.”
That afternoon, Mia entered my office wearing a simple navy blouse.
The diamond earrings were gone.
She looked nothing like the woman who had strutted into the boardroom.
“Please sit down,” I said.
She remained standing.
“Am I being arrested?”
“No.”
“Then why am I here?”
I slid the ownership disclosure toward her.
“Because your name appears on a company receiving money that may have been improperly diverted from Reed Harbor.”
She looked at the page.
Her face turned pale.
“Blue Heron?”
“You know it?”
She nodded.
“Jason told me it was our future.”
I waited.
“He said we'd own a little piece of the Florida resort after we got married.”
“How much did he say you owned?”
“I thought it was a small investment. Something he'd put aside for us.”
I pointed to the percentage.
“Thirty percent.”
Her eyes widened.
“That can't be right.”
“Did you sign membership documents?”
“Yes.”
“Did you read them?”
She lowered her head.
“Not carefully.”
I sat back.
Mia began speaking faster.
“He told me it was a wedding gift. He said he wanted me to have something in my own name because he'd spent years building everything for you.”
I looked at her.
“And you believed him?”
She stared at the floor.
“Yes.”
“Did he tell you where the money came from?”
“No.”
“Did you ask?”
She didn't answer.
That silence told me plenty.
I wasn't going to excuse her arrogance or the way she'd treated me.
But I could see that Jason had used her desire for security just as he'd used Elaine's fear of unemployment.
Mia pressed her hands together.
“I knew there were expensive dinners. Gifts. Trips. He told me they were business expenses.”
“And you accepted that explanation?”
“I wanted to.”
Her honesty surprised me.
Then she opened her handbag.
“I brought something.”
She removed a small velvet jewelry box.
Inside were the diamond earrings.
“I don't want these.”
I told her Daniel would arrange for the jewelry to be returned to the company's control while the purchase was reviewed.
She closed the box.
“Jason told me you were cruel. That you controlled every dollar he earned.”
I almost laughed.
“He told me you were a stranger.”
Tears appeared in her eyes.
“I know you don't owe me anything.”
“No,” I said softly. “I don't.”
She reached into her bag again.
This time, she removed a printed email.
“There's something else.”
The message was from Jason.
It had been sent three weeks earlier.
Attached was a draft investor schedule.
Mia pointed to the final page.
“Jason asked me to arrange a meeting with Warren Pike, the private investor helping finance Blue Heron.”
I read the heading.
PROPOSED ACQUISITION OF REED HARBOR HOSPITALITY ASSETS.
My hands went cold.
The document contained an estimated purchase price.
It was less than half what our company's properties were worth.
At the bottom was a proposed closing condition.
Acquisition to proceed following lender enforcement or comparable financial restructuring.
I looked up at Mia.
And suddenly, I understood why Jason had been so terrified of those records.
May you like
He hadn't simply been stealing from our company.
He was preparing to buy what remained after it collapsed.
