CHAP 6 — THE UNEXPECTED ALLY
The man who called Olivia Friday morning was the last person she expected.
Marcus Reed.
Chief financial officer of Hale Meridian.
He had attended Olivia's wedding.
He had toasted Sebastian.
He had barely spoken to her since.
“I need twenty minutes,” he said.
“Why?”
“Because by noon, your husband may either control a twelve-billion-dollar company or destroy one.”
Olivia agreed to meet.
Marcus arrived at a quiet law office with no phone.
He placed a paper notebook on the table.
“I've been keeping this for eighteen months.”
Inside were dates.
Transactions.
Instructions.
Changes Sebastian ordered verbally rather than through email.
Marcus had known something was wrong.
Not enough to accuse.
Enough to document.
“Why didn't you report it?”
Marcus looked ashamed.
“Because I liked my salary.”
It was brutally simple.
Olivia respected that more than an excuse.
“What changed?”
“My daughter asked me yesterday why people on television were saying you were crazy.”
Olivia waited.
Marcus rubbed his face.
“I realized I was helping a man build a lie I would hate someone to build around her.”
He showed them the real problem.
Briarwood was not the only false collateral.
Sebastian had used three Whitmore-linked properties as guarantees.
He had also inflated expected Northstar revenue.
If the merger closed, new capital would conceal the gaps.
If it failed, lenders might discover everything.
“He doesn't need the merger to become powerful,” Olivia said.
Marcus nodded.
“He needs it to survive.”
That made Sebastian more dangerous.
By eleven, Olivia had enough to halt the vote.
She chose not to.
At noon, Hale Meridian shareholders approved the Northstar merger in principle.
Sebastian smiled for cameras.
Stock prices rose.
Financial networks praised his “resilience amid personal turmoil.”
At 12:47, Olivia instructed Evelyn to send one letter.
Not to the press.
Not to the board.
To the lead bank.
It asked a simple question.
Could Hale Meridian confirm its legal right to pledge Briarwood Estate as collateral?
At 1:06, the bank requested documents.
At 1:41, Sebastian called Olivia.
She did not answer.
At 1:44, he called again.
At two, seventeen times.
At 2:13, trading in Hale Meridian shares was halted.
By three, Sebastian was no longer smiling.
Olivia stood in her mother's study watching television coverage.
Jonathan entered carrying tea.
“You planned this yesterday.”
“No.”
“When?”
“This morning.”
He handed her the cup.
Eleanor had drunk Earl Grey in the same room.
Jonathan looked at his daughter for a long time.
“Your mother would be proud.”
Olivia looked away.
“Don't.”
“Why?”
“Because everyone keeps telling me what Mom would think.”
She touched her belly.
“I want to know what I think.”
Jonathan nodded.
“That sounds like her too.”
Olivia laughed despite herself.
Then Evelyn entered.
Her expression erased the moment.
“Marcus is gone.”
“What do you mean?”
“He didn't return home.”
Olivia's stomach tightened.
“Sebastian?”
“We don't know.”
Then Evelyn placed a photograph on the desk.
It had been delivered anonymously.
Marcus entering their meeting that morning.
Someone had followed him.
May you like
On the back, written in black ink, were five words.
YOU SHOULD HAVE SIGNED, OLIVIA.
