Chapter 7 - THE BUSINESS WASN'T FAILING THE WAY BRIAN SAID
Noah agreed to meet Megan at a coffee shop in Greenwich.
He looked exhausted.
“I hate being in the middle of your marriage.”
“You’re not.”
“I called you during a fight in your dining room.”
“You stopped me signing something I didn’t understand.”
“That doesn’t make this comfortable.”
Megan respected that.
She asked only questions connected to the company.
“When did Brian decide to buy you out?”
“Last summer.”
That was earlier than Megan expected.
Brian had told her partnership problems became serious in December.
“What happened last summer?”
Noah laughed quietly.
“We disagreed about the Westport expansion.”
Megan remembered.
Brian had proposed a second showroom.
She thought the plan died.
Noah continued.
“I said we weren’t ready.”
Brian disagreed.
The company had been profitable for years but carried thin cash reserves because high-end construction required heavy upfront spending.
Noah wanted another year of stronger reserves.
Brian called him timid.
Then one large client delayed a $190,000 final payment during a dispute with an architect.
Cash tightened.
Brian used the temporary problem to argue Noah’s caution was holding them back.
“He said if he owned the company outright, he could move faster.”
Megan understood.
Brian had not needed to buy Noah out to save the company.
He needed money to buy Noah out so he could run the company without Noah.
Three earlier details changed meaning.
Brian’s increasingly late nights had not been desperate payroll work.
He had been negotiating financing.
Donna’s repeated questions about the New Canaan appraisal were not casual interest.
She had been helping prepare collateral.
And Brian’s insistence that Megan locate her father’s original title file in January had nothing to do with “organizing the estate.”
He had needed property information.
Megan felt sick.
“How far back did he plan to use my house?”
Noah hesitated.
“November at least.”
The month Donna gave him the deposit.
Megan thought of Thanksgiving.
Brian had stood in her father’s kitchen while they packed china.
He held an old photograph of Thomas on the porch.
Then he asked:
“Do you know what this place would appraise for now?”
Megan had said:
“Please don’t.”
Brian kissed her forehead.
“Okay.”
He had not stopped.
He had simply stopped asking her.
“Why did you call me?” Megan asked.
Noah looked at his coffee.
“Because yesterday morning Brian texted me that your signature would be done by five.”
“He told you that?”
“Yes.”
“Did you believe him?”
“At first.”
“What changed?”
“The title schedule listed Donna’s LLC structure.”
Noah frowned.
“I asked why you weren’t the manager.”
Brian said:
Megan doesn’t want to deal with paperwork.
Noah had met Megan dozens of times.
That sentence bothered him.
Then Brian added:
She gets overwhelmed about her dad’s house. Mom’s handling the logistics.
“That sounded like you weren’t actually part of the deal.”
“I wasn’t.”
“So I called.”
Megan looked at him.
“Thank you.”
Noah nodded.
Then said:
“There’s something else you should know.”
She waited.
“The buyout price wasn’t two hundred fifty thousand.”
Megan frowned.
“It’s in the loan package.”
“That’s the amount Brian still owed.”
“How much total?”
“Four hundred thousand.”
Megan stared at him.
“Donna already gave you seventy-five.”
“Yes.”
“That leaves three twenty-five.”
“Yes.”
“The loan only allocated two fifty.”
Noah nodded.
“Because Brian had already paid another seventy-five.”
“With what money?”
May you like
Noah looked at her.
“That’s why you need to check your joint accounts.”
