Chapter 9 - The Buyer Who Wanted the Name
Iris Chen arrived at Vale Atelier shortly after lunch.
She wore a charcoal coat and carried a leather briefcase that looked as though it had survived a dozen board meetings.
I expected someone cold.
Instead, she stopped beside my mother's old workbench and examined a half-finished silver pendant.
"Your mother made one of these for my sister," she said.
I looked at her.
"You knew Mom?"
"She was the reason Harrow invested here."
"Then why are you supporting the sale?"
Iris met my eyes.
"Because your husband gave us financial reports showing that the workshop wouldn't survive another year."
Denise stood beside me.
"Those reports didn't match what we were seeing on the floor."
"Then someone should have told us."
"We tried," Denise said.
"Nathan handled shareholder communications," Iris replied.
The tension between them filled the room.
I stepped forward.
"Then we'll show you what he didn't."
For the next hour, Denise and I walked Iris through the workshop.
We showed her completed orders waiting for shipment.
We introduced her to apprentices learning techniques that weren't easily replicated by industrial machinery.
We explained why three luxury boutiques had renewed their contracts despite Nathan's claim that demand was disappearing.
At one workbench, Denise opened a box containing twenty unfinished gold bracelets.
"The client paid a deposit. Nathan told us to stop production because Arden would handle future orders."
Iris frowned.
"That order was listed as canceled."
"It wasn't," Denise said.
Iris took out her phone.
"Send me the customer's correspondence."
By the time we returned to the office, her expression had changed.
But not enough.
"Emma, you need to understand why Harrow is concerned," she said.
"Nathan accepted a seven-hundred-eighty-thousand-dollar advance from Arden in connection with the proposed transaction and related production commitments."
My stomach dropped.
"What advance?"
"The agreement was included in the management package."
"Not in the copies I received."
Iris looked uncomfortable.
"The advance is subject to repayment if the deal fails and the production obligations aren't fulfilled."
"When?"
"Under the contract, the repayment provisions begin after a notice and cure period. But Arden has already raised concerns."
I thought about the rejected vendor payments.
Nathan hadn't just borrowed against our future.
He had spent money that might have to be returned.
"How much is left in the company account?" I asked.
Iris hesitated.
"Less than you think."
She gave me the latest cash summary.
The numbers made my throat tighten.
There was enough money for the next payroll.
Barely.
Not enough to satisfy overdue suppliers and repay Arden.
"We have a strong order book," I said.
"Orders aren't cash."
"I know that."
Iris looked at the workers through the glass office wall.
"I'm not here to destroy anyone's livelihood. I'm here because Harrow has an obligation to protect its investment."
"Then help me find an option besides selling."
She closed the folder.
"Bring me independently verified numbers and a credible operating plan. I'll consider it."
"Before tomorrow?"
"That's what you have."
After she left, Denise leaned against the wall.
"Well?"
"We have one day to show her Nathan's been lying."
Denise shook her head.
"That isn't enough time."
May you like
I looked through the window at the people working beneath the fluorescent lights.
"Then we'll have to make every hour count."
