Chapter 14 - Adrian’s Last Game
Daniel wanted Adrian’s cooperation terminated.
Rachel refused.
“Not until we understand the offer.”
“He’s playing both sides.”
“Yes.”
“He always has.”
“Yes.”
“You sound calm.”
“I charge hourly.”
Daniel glared.
Sophie almost laughed.
The acquisition offer complicated everything.
At $310 million, it could repay legitimate debt, resolve litigation and create substantial value for shareholders.
Ava’s trust would receive roughly sixty-two million before taxes and adjustments.
Marcus’s personal financial crisis would disappear.
Daniel could walk away wealthy.
So could Sophie.
The company would no longer control their lives.
For one dangerous hour, the offer looked like escape.
Then Evelyn Marsh found the poison.
Meridian Atlantic wanted warranties confirming all Crown Harbor debt and North Sound security interests were valid.
If Daniel signed those warranties, he effectively ratified the very financing being challenged.
Same trap.
Different package.
Sophie said, “Adrian repackaged the ferry papers as a sale.”
Daniel nodded.
“He thinks if the price is high enough, I’ll stop caring.”
Rachel looked at him.
“Would you?”
Daniel was silent.
Sophie watched.
Three hundred ten million.
Freedom.
Security.
No more brother war.
Then Daniel said, “No.”
“Because of pride?” Rachel asked.
“Because Ava’s trust would inherit proceeds from a transaction built on fraudulent debt.”
Sophie looked at him.
“And because?”
He exhaled.
“Because I’d spend the rest of my life wondering whether I sold just to escape consequences.”
Growth rarely sounded heroic.
It sounded tired.
Adrian joined another video call.
Daniel said, “You’re done.”
Adrian smiled.
“You need me.”
“No.”
“You need my evidence.”
“We have enough.”
“Do you?”
He held up a document.
The original Crown Harbor loan authorization.
Daniel’s signature page.
Wet ink.
Not electronic.
Daniel stared.
“That’s not mine.”
Adrian smiled.
“Exactly.”
A handwriting expert had already flagged it.
The signature was a simulation.
And beneath the page, a faint indentation suggested it had been traced from an older document.
“Who did it?” Rachel asked.
“Marcus.”
“Did you witness it?”
“Yes.”
“Will you testify?”
Adrian hesitated.
“What do I get?”
Daniel stood.
“Nothing from me.”
Rachel remained calm.
“We can discuss truthful cooperation with the company. Prosecutors decide criminal consequences.”
Adrian looked toward Sophie.
“You understand business better than your husband.”
Sophie said, “No. I understand you.”
His smile faded.
“You think every relationship is leverage.”
“It usually is.”
“That’s why no one trusts you now.”
Silence.
Adrian ended the call.
The next morning, he withdrew his cooperation offer.
Then disappeared from counsel contact.
Rachel swore.
Without Adrian’s testimony, some links became harder.
Not impossible.
Harder.
At the same time, Marcus gained a temporary court victory.
The judge in the Crown Harbor civil case declined to freeze all Alder Shore assets, finding some funds were unrelated to disputed loan proceeds.
Marcus regained access to roughly $4 million.
Within hours, he hired a national litigation firm.
The power shifted again.
Then Marcus personally contacted Sophie despite the no-contact directive from terminal investigators.
A message:
Tell Daniel to take the sale. You wanted him free of the company. This is your chance.
Sophie stared.
Another:
Or keep fighting and explain to Ava why her father loses everything.
Sophie saved the messages.
No deletion this time.
She sent them to Rachel.
Then Daniel.
He called immediately.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want me home?”
Sophie looked around her sister’s guest room.
Ava slept nearby.
“Yes.”
Daniel came.
No argument.
No company meeting first.
He arrived in ninety minutes.
Sophie opened the door.
For the first time since the terminal, they stood together without a document between them.
Daniel said, “I’m sorry I made you feel the company mattered more.”
Sophie’s eyes filled.
“I’m sorry I kept secrets because I was afraid of your reaction.”
“We were easy to divide.”
“Yes.”
He held her.
Ava wandered out rubbing her eyes.
“Daddy?”
Daniel crouched.
She climbed onto him.
Then asked the question that changed Sophie’s priorities completely.
“No more ferry?”
Daniel looked at Sophie.
“No more bad ferry trips.”
Ava considered.
“Good ferry?”
“One day.”
She nodded.
Then Rachel called.
Adrian had resurfaced.
Not through lawyers.
Through police.
Someone had broken into his Vancouver apartment.
Nothing valuable was taken.
Only one hard drive.
May you like
Adrian finally understood Marcus was eliminating shared evidence.
And this time he wanted protection more than leverage.
