Chapter 10 - His Father’s Plan
The 2020 NorthStar proposal looked disturbingly familiar.
Same investment bank.
Same buyer.
Same subsidiary.
But not the same deal.
Thomas had proposed selling a noncontrolling forty-nine-percent economic interest while Mercer retained voting control.
Julian’s current deal sold eighty percent and transferred operational control.
“That is a massive difference,” Rebecca said.
Ethan looked at Vivian’s letter.
“Then why did Mother want me to find this?”
“To make you doubt us.”
Claire said, “Or because there’s something else.”
They examined Thomas’s files.
One memo stood out.
Thomas had written:
Julian strongly favors outright disposition. Vivian supports Julian. I do not.
Ethan leaned back.
“So they were trying to sell Logistics six years ago.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Your father stopped them.”
“Why?”
“Because Logistics provides stable cash flow to the whole group.”
Claire said, “And after Thomas died?”
“Ethan became CEO,” Rebecca said.
Ethan understood.
He had also opposed selling.
They had needed a different route.
Ava’s birth should have weakened Vivian’s trust control.
Instead they changed the record and used her retained votes to revive the sale.
The scheme was not born in the hospital.
The hospital manipulation had rescued an old ambition.
Later that day, Julian came to the house.
Ethan nearly refused him entry.
Claire said, “Let him talk.”
They met in the library.
Julian looked exhausted but still immaculate.
“I didn’t know Mother would chain Claire.”
Claire replied, “Congratulations on finding your moral line.”
Julian ignored the sarcasm.
“Mother told me she was retrieving trust property.”
“You knew she was coming here,” Ethan said.
“Yes.”
“You knew she wanted the March record.”
“Yes.”
“You told Owen to keep you informed.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because that document could freeze the Logistics transaction.”
“It should.”
Julian stepped closer.
“You think this is about my fund.”
“Isn’t it?”
“My fund invested twelve million into the acquisition vehicle.”
“Without proper disclosure.”
“I disclosed.”
“You minimized it.”
“I followed counsel’s form.”
“Which counsel?”
Julian paused.
“Martin.”
Ethan laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
Julian looked at Claire.
“Your wife is not innocent.”
Claire’s face tightened.
Ethan said, “No one said she was.”
Julian seemed surprised.
He had expected Ethan to defend blindly.
That weapon failed.
Julian changed direction.
“Claire contacted NorthStar before telling you.”
“I know.”
“She asked whether the buyer would support an independent trustee controlling Ava’s shares.”
Ethan turned toward Claire.
“What?”
Claire went pale.
Julian smiled.
There it was.
Another secret.
Ethan looked at his wife.
“Did you?”
Claire answered quietly.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Two weeks ago.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to know whether NorthStar was part of your mother’s plan.”
“You discussed our daughter’s trust votes with a potential buyer?”
“Through Naomi.”
Julian said, “She was positioning herself.”
Claire snapped, “I was protecting Ava.”
Julian laughed.
“Everyone calls it protection when they want control.”
Ethan felt the argument slipping from facts into wounds.
He forced himself back.
“Julian, did you ask Paul Renner to change Ava’s birth time?”
“No.”
“Did Mother?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Martin?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you know it was changed before you signed the April fourth vote?”
Julian hesitated.
That hesitation mattered.
“Answer.”
“I knew the electronic chart said April first.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
Julian looked away.
“I knew there had been uncertainty.”
“You signed the hospital notification at eleven fifty-eight.”
“I was there.”
“You knew she was alive before midnight.”
Julian’s jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
Claire inhaled sharply.
Ethan felt oddly calm.
“Then you knew Mother’s trustee certification was false.”
“I knew it was legally arguable.”
“No.”
Ethan stood.
“You knew my daughter had been born.”
“The trust is about governance, Ethan.”
“The trust says birth.”
“You have no idea what happens if eighteen percent moves to an outside trustee.”
“Maybe that was Grandfather’s point.”
Julian’s composure finally cracked.
“You always do this.”
“Do what?”
“Pretend refusing power makes you moral while everyone else has to manage reality.”
Ethan stared.
Julian continued.
“Father chose you as CEO because you were safe. Mother chose me because I understand survival.”
“And Ava?”
Julian looked toward the nursery hallway.
“She is four months old.”
Ethan’s voice went cold.
“She is also the person whose rights you decided did not matter.”
Julian picked up his coat.
At the door he turned.
“If you stop the sale, Mercer Consolidated will need three hundred million dollars of refinancing within eighteen months.”
Ethan frowned.
“What?”
Julian smiled without humor.
“You’ve been so busy proving we are monsters that you haven’t looked at the debt schedule.”
He left.
Ethan turned to Rebecca.
She did not deny it.
May you like
For the first time, Ethan wondered whether stopping Julian might save the trust—
and endanger the company.
