Chapter 7 - CHASE BARRON’S PERFECT LIFEOnline, Chase Barron's life looked untouchable.
Seven cars.
A Beverly Hills penthouse.
Yacht weekends in Cabo.
Watches that cost more than houses.
Private dinners with athletes and entertainers.
He understood better than most that modern wealth was partly performance.
Investors didn't merely buy companies.
They bought confidence.
Customers bought aspiration.
Employees followed people who looked as though they had already arrived.
At least that was how Chase justified it.
His CFO, Martin Ellison, saw it differently.
“You charged the Monaco trip to business development.”
Chase sat behind his desk.
“I met investors there.”
“For forty minutes.”
“I still met them.”
“You stayed five nights.”
“That's networking.”
Martin slid another report across the desk.
“And the supercar?”
“Marketing asset.”
“You drive it personally.”
“The brand is me.”
“That is exactly the problem.”
Chase leaned back.
“You didn't care when our valuation tripled.”
“I cared. I told you repeatedly.”
“And I told you to stop thinking like an accountant.”
“I am the CFO.”
“Exactly.”
Martin's jaw tightened.
Whitcomb Capital had requested support for dozens of expenses.
He could provide explanations.
Some would survive scrutiny.
Others would not.
Not because Chase had necessarily stolen money in the criminal sense.
The situation was more subtle and, in some ways, more dangerous.
He had blurred personal and corporate expenses until nobody knew where the company ended and Chase Barron began.
“Why are they digging now?” Chase asked.
“You know why.”
“This is personal.”
Martin shook his head.
“No. This review would have happened eventually.”
“Not like this.”
“Maybe not this week.”
Chase stood and walked to the window.
Beverly Hills glittered beneath him.
He had spent fifteen years making sure no one would ever look down on him again.
His father had sold used appliances in Riverside.
His mother cleaned offices at night.
Chase remembered classmates laughing when his father picked him up in a dented van.
He remembered promising himself he'd never be the person standing beside the cheap car.
Now people photographed his vehicles.
Restaurants kept tables open for him.
Valets knew his name.
And still, Aaron Whitcomb had made him feel small with one black card and a gray polo.
That was what Chase hated most.
Not Aaron's wealth.
The fact that Aaron didn't seem to need anyone to know about it.
Chase's phone rang.
Gavin.
“We have another issue.”
“What now?”
“Bellavere preserved the footage.”
“I know.”
“They won't release it to us without a formal request.”
“Then make one.”
“Already did.”
“And?”
“Whitcomb's attorney requested preservation as well.”
Chase rubbed his jaw.
“Has he filed anything?”
“Not yet.”
“Then he's bluffing.”
“Stop assuming everyone who doesn't attack immediately is bluffing.”
Chase hung up.
Martin had remained in the office.
“What happened Friday?” he asked.
Chase looked at him.
“Nothing.”
“Whitcomb's son?”
Chase's face tightened.
“Who told you?”
“People talk.”
“The kid damaged my car.”
Martin waited.
Chase hated that silence.
“Yes, I slapped him.”
Martin closed his eyes.
“Jesus.”
“He wasn't hurt.”
“That isn't the point.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that?”
Martin stared at him.
“Because you apparently still don't understand the point.”
Chase walked around the desk.
“Be careful.”
Martin almost laughed.
“With what?”
“With forgetting who built this company.”
Martin gathered his files.
“You built it.”
“Correct.”
“And that's why no one has stopped you from becoming its biggest risk.”
Chase's face hardened.
Martin walked out.
At Whitcomb Capital, Dana entered Aaron's office with an updated diligence report.
“We found something.”
Aaron looked up.
“Material?”
“Potentially.”
She placed a document in front of him.
A vehicle lease.
The black supercar.
Aaron recognized the description immediately.
“Company-owned?”
“Technically leased through a marketing subsidiary.”
“How much does Chase personally pay?”
Dana pointed to the line.
Aaron looked.
Almost nothing.
“So when he said ‘my car’…”
“It was mostly company-funded.”
Aaron leaned back.
“That's embarrassing. Not necessarily investment-breaking.”
“No.”
Dana turned another page.
“But this might be.”
A reimbursement report.
Private flights.
Luxury accommodations.
Personal security.
Family travel.
All categorized as strategic development.
Aaron's expression remained neutral.
“Could be legitimate.”
“Some of it.”
“And the rest?”
“We're asking.”
Dana paused.
“There's also a recording from Elena.”
“What kind of recording?”
“A meeting. She made it after several incidents because she was afraid she'd be fired and blamed.”
“Legal?”
“California consent issues are being reviewed. Counsel says don't circulate it yet.”
“Then we don't.”
Dana nodded.
“But I can tell you one thing she documented without playing it.”
Aaron waited.
“Chase told an employee who challenged him: ‘Know your place or find another one.’”
Aaron looked toward the window.
The phrase again.
This time there was no doubt.
May you like
Milo's encounter had not revealed a new side of Chase Barron.
It had revealed an old one.
Related Stories
