Chapter 4 - THE SIGNATURE THAT ENDED HIS PERFORMANCE
Arthur placed the document on the hood of his sedan, covering every line except the signature at the bottom.
It looked like mine.
The shape of the M was close. The final T in Margaret slanted correctly. Even the small break in my last name had been copied.
But I had not signed it.
Chloe leaned closer. “What is that?”
“A personal guarantee,” Arthur said. “It claims Margaret authorized Nick to pledge additional trust assets against a private credit line.”
Harrison looked at the page. “How much?”
“Twelve million dollars.”
Chloe stared at her husband.
Nick raised both hands. “It was temporary.”
“You forged her name?” she asked.
“I had authority.”
Arthur’s voice remained even. “You did not.”
“The company needed liquidity.”
“Then you should have requested it.”
“She would have said no.”
“Yes,” I said. “I would have.”
Nick looked at me as though my refusal proved his innocence.
“There. You hear that? She would have let the company fail.”
“The company wasn’t failing,” Arthur said. “You were trying to acquire a competitor without board approval.”
Nick’s eyes flicked toward the investors inside.
Arthur continued.
“You planned to use Mr. Wells’s investment to cover the unauthorized credit line before the quarterly review.”
Harrison’s jaw tightened. “You wanted my money to hide a forged loan.”
“It would have been repaid.”
“That is not an answer.”
Nick stepped toward me.
“Do you know what I’ve had to do to keep this company growing? Do you know how many people depend on me?”
“I know how many people depend on the company,” I said. “That is why you will no longer control it.”
He laughed sharply. “You can’t run a technology company.”
“No. But the chief operating officer can.”
The color left his face.
For the last four months, Arthur and I had been working with Nick’s COO, Rebecca Lin. She had contacted us after discovering altered board records and unexplained transfers.
At first, I refused to believe her.
Nick was arrogant, but I told myself arrogance was not fraud.
Then Rebecca sent copies of the documents.
Arthur wanted to act immediately.
I asked him to wait.
I wanted to speak to my son before destroying the career he had built. I planned to do it after meeting my grandson.
Nick had mistaken my patience for blindness.
“You set me up,” he said.
“No. I gave you time to tell the truth.”
“You came here unannounced.”
“I came as your mother.”
“You came to spy on me.”
“I came carrying a blanket.”
Chloe covered her mouth as tears slipped down her cheeks.
The front door opened wider. The investors and several company executives stepped onto the porch. Rebecca stood among them, holding a laptop against her chest.
Nick saw her.
“You,” he said.
Rebecca did not flinch. “The emergency board meeting passed the resolution twenty minutes ago.”
“What resolution?”
She looked at me before answering.
“Your suspension as chief executive pending a full audit.”
Nick lunged toward her.
The officer took one measured step forward.
Nick stopped.
His fists remained clenched, but the fight left his face.
Harrison walked down the steps and removed a signed term sheet from his jacket.
He tore it in half.
“You will not receive a dollar from my family.”
Nick looked at Chloe. “Tell him he’s overreacting.”
She stared at him.
“You lied about your mother. You lied about the house. You forged her signature. What exactly am I supposed to defend?”
“I did this for us.”
“No. You did it for the man you wanted people to think you were.”
The baby cried again from inside.
Chloe wiped her cheeks.
“My son will not grow up watching you treat people this way.”
Nick’s expression shifted from anger to panic.
“You’re leaving me?”
“I’m protecting him.”
He pointed toward the mansion. “This is our home.”
I looked at Arthur.
“Give Chloe the temporary occupancy agreement.”
Nick turned toward me.
“What?”
Arthur removed a sealed envelope from the folder and handed it to Chloe.
I had prepared it before flying to Seattle.
If the confrontation became ugly, Chloe and the baby could remain in the house for six months while she arranged somewhere else to live.
Nick would not.
My son’s voice shook.
May you like
“You planned to throw me out before you even got here?”
“No,” I said. “I planned for the possibility that you had become exactly who everyone warned me you were.”
