Chapter 5 - Daniel’s SecretEvelyn returned to the mansion the evening before the board meeting.
Adeline stayed with Daniel’s sister under police protection arranged through the family and investigators.
Evelyn did not want her near the lake.
She was not sure she wanted herself near it either.
She entered the foyer.
Stopped.
Walter usually stood there.
She hated that her first feeling was grief.
Not for what happened.
For the man she thought he had been.
Daniel came downstairs.
“We need to talk.”
Evelyn almost laughed.
“Those words have become terrifying.”
“This one’s mine.”
They went into the library.
Daniel closed the door.
“I owe Lydia money.”
Evelyn stared.
“What?”
“My firm had a cash problem last year.”
“How much?”
“Four hundred thousand.”
Her face changed.
“You told me Whitaker Studio was fine.”
“It is now.”
“You borrowed four hundred thousand from my aunt?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because if I told you, you would offer family money.”
“And borrowing secretly from Lydia was better?”
“At the time, I thought yes.”
Evelyn paced away.
“When?”
“Eleven months ago.”
The same month Lakebridge Advisory formed.
The same period Lydia intensified pressure for the sale.
“What did she ask for?”
“Nothing at first.”
“That means she was waiting.”
Daniel nodded.
“Three months ago, she asked me to sign a letter.”
“What letter?”
He removed a copy from his briefcase.
Evelyn read.
It stated that Daniel had observed his wife experiencing significant stress, missed appointments and episodes of confusion.
Evelyn looked up.
“You signed this?”
“I believed those things had happened.”
“Because Walter told you.”
“Some. Some I thought I saw.”
“You gave Lydia a written statement saying I was mentally confused.”
“I didn’t know what she wanted it for.”
“What did you think?”
“She said the board was worried and she wanted family documentation to persuade you to take a short leave.”
Evelyn’s hands trembled.
“You signed it.”
“Yes.”
“Did she threaten the loan?”
Daniel did not answer quickly enough.
“She did.”
“She said if I wouldn’t help, she’d call the loan.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“And you still signed.”
“Yes.”
He did not defend it.
That mattered.
Not enough.
But it mattered.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t.”
“Evelyn.”
“Not yet.”
She placed the letter on the table.
“Did you ever ask me whether I was confused?”
“I asked if you were okay.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
“I know.”
“You watched me doubt myself and you had a piece of paper in your desk telling Lydia you agreed.”
Daniel’s voice cracked.
“I was ashamed.”
“So you protected yourself.”
“Yes.”
The honesty stopped her.
Daniel continued.
“I told myself I was protecting the firm. Our employees. Us. But I was protecting myself from admitting I had failed.”
Evelyn looked toward the dark window.
“What else?”
“That’s all.”
“Think.”
He did.
“There was a dinner.”
“With Lydia?”
“Yes.”
“Who else?”
“An Arden Capital executive.”
Evelyn turned.
“When?”
“Two months ago.”
“You met the buyer?”
“By accident. Lydia invited me.”
“What did they ask?”
“Whether you were emotionally attached to the properties.”
“That’s not a business question.”
“I know now.”
“What did you say?”
“That you were.”
Evelyn laughed bitterly.
Daniel kept going.
“I said your father’s redevelopment plan mattered to you.”
“What else?”
“That you’d never sell while you felt you were protecting his legacy.”
Evelyn understood.
They had mapped her resistance.
Then Lydia had begun constructing the argument that Evelyn’s decision was emotional rather than financial.
Daniel had provided the language.
He looked destroyed.
“I’m going to give the loan documents to Rebecca.”
“You’re going to give them to Detective Mercer.”
He nodded.
“And I want you out of tomorrow’s meeting.”
Daniel stared.
“You asked me to stand beside you.”
“That was before I learned you have a financial relationship with Lydia.”
“I’m not on the board.”
“You’re still conflicted.”
He looked hurt.
Evelyn did not soften.
Not because she wanted to punish him.
Because she finally understood something.
A boundary was not cruelty.
“I love you,” she said.
Daniel looked up.
“But tomorrow I need to know every person in that room is there for one reason.”
He nodded slowly.
“The company.”
“Yes.”
“What do you need from me?”
“Stay with Adeline.”
The answer hit him.
That was the most important job anyway.
Daniel nodded.
“I will.”
Before leaving the library, he stopped.
“Evelyn.”
“Yes?”
“Walter was wrong.”
She waited.
“About what?”
“That I’d leave if you broke.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“I don’t want you to stay because I’m broken.”
“You’re not.”
“Then learn to stay when I disagree with you.”
Daniel absorbed it.
“I’m trying.”
That night Rebecca called.
She had identified Lakebridge Advisory’s beneficial owner through financial disclosures obtained from Arden during emergency due diligence.
Evelyn sat down.
“Who?”
Rebecca answered:
“Lydia’s personal investment trust.”
Evelyn went silent.
The ninety-six-million-dollar sale had a hidden payment.
Lakebridge would receive a six-million-dollar advisory fee if the transaction closed.
Friday.
Lydia had not been fighting for company strategy.
May you like
She had been fighting for six million dollars.
And she had nearly sacrificed Adeline to get it.
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