Chapter 12 - NINETY MILLION
Ninety million changed everything.
The board panicked.
Banks threatened acceleration.
Victor blamed rogue managers.
Managers produced emails.
Victor had approved labor targets impossible to meet legally.
Celeste had joked about it in messages.
MAKE THEM CLOCK OUT THEN FINISH.
One executive replied.
THAT’S ILLEGAL.
Celeste wrote.
ONLY IF SOMEONE CARES.
People cared now.
Class-action lawyers arrived.
Regulators arrived.
Reporters camped outside hotels.
Guests canceled bookings.
Dad’s restructuring team worked through the night.
I joined.
Not because I worked for Mercer Dominion.
I didn’t.
Because Dad had two cracked ribs and no sense.
At 3:00 a.m., he tried to stand.
“Sit.”
“I need coffee.”
“You need bones.”
He glared.
I got the coffee.
The employee fund became the center of the deal.
Dad insisted workers be paid before equity holders.
Victor refused.
Then Dad showed him the liquidation model.
If Harrow Crest collapsed, Victor’s shares could become nearly worthless.
He signed.
Celeste’s lawyers sued to stop the restructuring.
They argued her trust had priority rights.
Then the trust document surfaced.
Created by Victor.
It guaranteed Celeste annual distributions.
Even if the company violated labor law.
Dad stared at him.
“You protected her income ahead of wages?”
Victor looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
I wanted to hate him.
It was getting exhausting.
The court froze Celeste’s trust.
Then someone leaked Dad’s restructuring proposal before lenders approved it.
The leak caused another market panic.
Only six people had the document.
I was one.
Victor was another.
Adrian’s mother was another.
Suspicion turned inward.
Then Dad’s attorney found the leak source.
My laptop.
My credentials.
I stared at the access log.
“That’s impossible.”
The file had been downloaded at 2:14 a.m.
I had been in Dad’s hospital room.
Alone.
Or so I thought.
Security footage showed Adrian entering the room at 2:09.
He left at 2:17.
I looked at him.
He went pale.
“Lena.”
“Tell me you didn’t.”
He swallowed.
“I can explain.”
I stepped back.
May you like
I had heard that sentence enough.
