Chapter 23 - THE OPTION
Emily read the purchase agreement three times.
The words did not improve.
Matthew had not merely wanted Hale Systems.
He had prepared to acquire it if Diane succeeded in having Emily declared incapacitated.
Rachel sat beside her.
“Before you decide what this means, we need the full transaction file.”
Emily looked at her.
“It means he signed it.”
“Yes.”
“Two weeks ago.”
“Yes.”
“While Diane was preparing a psychiatric proxy.”
“That timing is bad.”
Emily laughed bitterly.
“Your legal vocabulary is adorable.”
Rachel did not smile.
“I’m not defending him.”
“Good.”
“I’m telling you to separate anger from evidence.”
“I can do both.”
“Can you?”
Emily stared at her.
Then looked away.
“No.”
That answer hurt.
Rachel nodded.
“Neither can most people.”
Matthew came out of surgery shortly before dawn.
He was awake by eight.
Emily waited until ten before going into his room.
Not because she wanted him rested.
Because she wanted herself steadier.
It did not work.
Matthew looked pale against the pillows.
His right arm was immobilized.
He saw the folder in her hand and understood immediately.
“Ambrose kept a copy.”
Emily closed the door.
“You signed an option to buy my shares if I was declared incapacitated.”
“Yes.”
No hesitation.
She hated him for that too.
“Why?”
“Because Diane offered it.”
Emily’s mouth went dry.
“She offered you my shares.”
“Yes.”
“And you agreed.”
“I agreed to a conditional option.”
“Do not corporate-lawyer me.”
His face tightened.
“You’re right.”
Emily threw the folder onto his blanket.
“You knew she was preparing to take my voting rights.”
“I knew she claimed you were unstable and disengaged from the company.”
“And that made this okay?”
“No.”
“Then why sign?”
Matthew looked toward the window.
“Because I wanted control of Hale Systems before Ambrose got it.”
Emily stared.
“That is not noble.”
“I know.”
“Stop agreeing with me.”
He looked back at her.
“What answer do you want?”
“The true one.”
“That is the true one.”
“No. The ugly part.”
Matthew was silent.
Emily waited.
Finally he said, “I believed I could run the company better than Diane.”
“And me?”
“I didn’t think about you as a real owner.”
The words hit harder than she expected.
He continued.
“You were a name in a file. A daughter who didn’t attend board meetings. Someone Diane described as uninterested.”
“She lied.”
“Not completely.”
Emily’s anger flared.
Matthew did not back away from it.
“You were uninterested.”
“Yes.”
“You had access to information and chose not to learn the business.”
“Yes.”
“You signed a proxy without reading it.”
“Yes.”
Her voice cracked.
“Yes, I did.”
Silence.
Matthew’s expression changed.
Emily continued before he could soften.
“But being careless with my own life did not make it yours to buy.”
“No.”
“That is the part you missed.”
“Yes.”
She looked at him.
There were tears in her eyes now.
She hated that too.
“You opened the car door for me.”
“Yes.”
“Was any part of that because you knew I could stop Diane’s sale?”
Matthew’s face became still.
Emily felt dread.
“Answer.”
“At the first second? No.”
“And after you recognized me?”
“Yes.”
The room went quiet.
Emily nodded slowly.
There it was.
The thing she had been afraid to ask.
Not a complete betrayal.
Something messier.
He had seen a woman in danger and helped her.
Then realized she was useful and let that fact shape what came next.
Both were true.
She backed toward the door.
Matthew said, “Emily.”
“No.”
“I’m not asking you to forgive me.”
“Good.”
“I am asking you to take the original option agreement.”
She stopped.
“Why?”
“Because there’s a side letter Diane never saw.”
Emily frowned.
“What side letter?”
“In my office safe.”
“Convenient.”
“It voids the option if your capacity was challenged through fraud or coercion.”
Emily stared.
“Why sign the option at all?”
“To keep Diane from selling it to Ambrose while I investigated.”
“That sounds noble again.”
“It wasn’t only that.”
He looked exhausted.
“I also wanted the company.”
Emily opened the door.
“Thank you for finally being complicated.”
She left.
At Carter Meridian headquarters, Marcus opened Matthew’s safe in front of Emily and Rachel.
The side letter existed.
Signed and notarized.
It protected Emily more than she expected.
It did not erase the option.
She did not let it.
Inside the safe was another envelope with her father’s name on it.
ARTHUR HALE.
Emily looked at Marcus.
“Did Matthew know this was here?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Eight years.”
Emily stared.
She opened it.
Inside was a handwritten letter from Arthur to Victor Carter.
The first line read:
Victor, if anything happens to Evelyn, I will spend the rest of my life proving you helped Ambrose bury the truth.
At the bottom, Victor had written a reply in red ink.
You’re looking at the wrong enemy.
Ask your secretary who made the call.
Helen.
Emily’s hands went cold.
May you like
But beneath Victor’s note was one more sentence.
And ask Diane why she was at Ambrose’s club the night Evelyn disappeared.
