Chapter 4 - THE DEAL JULIAN SHOULD HAVE REFUSED
Julian did not sleep.
At 2:13 a.m., he sat alone in their apartment staring at the city through the living-room window.
Olivia had stayed at the Ashford Grand.
She had texted three words.
I need time.
Julian had typed six different replies.
Deleted all of them.
At 6:40, his phone rang.
Marcus Vane.
Julian answered immediately.
“Marcus.”
“Breakfast. Eight o’clock. Sterling Club.”
“I—”
“Eight.”
The call ended.
The Sterling Club occupied the top two floors of a private building on Madison Avenue.
Julian arrived at 7:52.
Marcus was already seated.
So was Richard Sterling.
Julian stopped.
Richard smiled.
“Mr. Mercer.”
Julian’s pulse accelerated.
He had spoken to Richard perhaps four times in five years.
Never privately.
“Sir.”
“Sit.”
Julian obeyed.
Marcus poured coffee.
For several seconds, nobody mentioned Olivia.
Then Richard said, “Quite an evening.”
Julian forced a smile.
“It was unexpected.”
“For you.”
“Yes.”
“For us too.”
Richard studied him.
“My sister was difficult.”
Julian said nothing.
“She believed every moral objection deserved a war.”
Marcus spread butter on toast.
“Catherine had principles.”
Richard smiled.
“Principles are expensive when applied indiscriminately.”
Julian felt uneasy.
“What does this have to do with me?”
Richard leaned back.
“Your wife controls a voting block capable of disrupting the succession plan.”
“What succession plan?”
“Marcus becomes chief executive.”
Marcus did not look surprised.
Richard continued.
“I remain vice chairman and oversee strategic holdings.”
“And Arthur?”
“Chairman emeritus.”
Julian understood.
Arthur had not approved this plan.
Not yet.
Richard slid a folder across the table.
Inside was a legal document.
PROXY AUTHORIZATION.
Olivia Hale Mercer.
Julian looked up.
“No.”
Richard smiled.
“You haven’t read it.”
“I don’t need to.”
“Good instinct.”
Marcus finally spoke.
“Nobody is asking you to forge anything.”
“Then why am I here?”
“To help your wife understand stability.”
Julian closed the folder.
“She’ll vote however she wants.”
“Of course.”
Richard’s tone suggested the opposite.
“But Olivia trusts you.”
Julian almost laughed.
“Not particularly this morning.”
Marcus said, “That can be repaired.”
Then he placed a second document on the table.
Julian looked down.
Executive Vice President, Strategic Development.
His name beneath it.
Salary more than double his current compensation.
Equity incentives.
Corporate apartment allowance.
Board observer status.
Everything Julian had spent five years wanting.
His throat went dry.
“What is this?”
“A future,” Richard said.
Julian looked at Marcus.
Marcus met his eyes without shame.
“You’re good, Mercer.”
“Is that why I’m being offered this?”
“You’re ambitious.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“It’s the only answer that matters.”
Julian stared at the compensation number again.
His mind did what it always did.
Apartment upgrade.
Private school if they had children.
Investment portfolio.
Vacation home.
Status.
Security.
Recognition.
Then Olivia’s face appeared in his memory.
This one looks expensive.
He hated himself.
Richard tapped the proxy.
“Your wife doesn’t understand the company.”
Julian’s head lifted.
“Neither did I before I joined.”
“But you learned.”
“So can she.”
Richard’s smile faded.
“That would be inconvenient.”
There it was.
Julian closed both folders.
“I’m not bringing her this.”
Marcus sighed.
“Don’t be dramatic.”
“I’m not.”
Richard stared at him.
“You are where you are because Sterling gave you opportunities.”
“I earned where I am.”
“Did you?”
The question hit exactly where Richard intended.
Julian’s pride.
His insecurity.
Marcus leaned closer.
“This isn’t corruption, Julian. It’s governance.”
“Then ask her yourselves.”
“She doesn’t trust us.”
“Why would she?”
Silence.
Julian stood.
Richard’s voice hardened.
“Sit down.”
Julian looked at him.
For the first time in his career, he did not.
“I have a meeting.”
“You have no meeting.”
“Then I’ll schedule one.”
He walked toward the door.
Richard spoke behind him.
“Cypress Ridge.”
Julian stopped.
That name mattered.
Cypress Ridge was the acquisition that had earned Julian his directorship.
A chain of twelve commercial properties purchased for $310 million.
Richard continued.
“You did the valuation.”
Julian slowly turned.
“My team did.”
“You signed it.”
“Yes.”
“Are you certain the occupancy figures were accurate?”
The room went cold.
Julian stared at him.
“What are you saying?”
Marcus said nothing.
That frightened Julian more.
Richard smiled.
“Sit.”
Julian returned to the table.
Richard opened another folder.
Cypress Ridge.
Original tenant schedules.
Occupancy: 61 percent.
Julian’s acquisition model had used 84 percent.
“No.”
He flipped pages.
“This isn’t what we were given.”
Richard shrugged.
“Your signature is on the recommendation.”
“The asset team provided those numbers.”
“Can you prove it?”
Julian looked at Marcus.
Marcus finally met his eyes.
“You were told to move quickly.”
Julian felt sick.
“You knew?”
“I knew the deal mattered.”
“You altered the occupancy?”
“I said I knew it mattered.”
Richard leaned forward.
“If regulators look closely, your name appears on a materially false valuation supporting a three-hundred-million-dollar acquisition.”
Julian stared at him.
“You’re blackmailing me.”
“I’m explaining exposure.”
“You set me up.”
“Careful.”
“Did you?”
Richard smiled.
“That depends on what your wife does over the next forty-five days.”
Julian walked out without taking either folder.
His hands shook all the way to the elevator.
At 9:26, Olivia sat in Arthur’s suite reading her mother’s first letter when Julian called.
She almost ignored him.
Something made her answer.
“What?”
“Olivia.”
His voice sounded wrong.
“What happened?”
“I need to see you.”
“No.”
“Please.”
“Julian, I said I need time.”
“This isn’t about us.”
“Then what?”
Silence.
“Sterling.”
Her stomach tightened.
“What about it?”
He hesitated.
He could tell her everything.
Richard.
The proxy.
The promotion.
Cypress Ridge.
Instead, five years of fear won.
“I think you need to be careful who you trust.”
Olivia looked through the window at Manhattan.
“Does that include you?”
Julian closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
She went still.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
Not yet.
The words almost came out.
Instead:
“I’ll explain tonight.”
Olivia’s voice became cold.
“Explain now.”
He looked back toward the private club.
Marcus stood behind the glass doors.
Watching him.
Julian lowered his voice.
“I can’t.”
“Then don’t call me until you can.”
She disconnected.
Across from her, Ethan Cole said nothing.
Olivia placed the phone down.
“What?”
he asked eventually.
“I don’t know.”
Then she looked at the Cypress Ridge file Ethan had brought her twenty minutes earlier.
At the bottom of the acquisition recommendation was a signature.
JULIAN MERCER.
And beside the signature was a financial assumption Olivia had already learned was false.
She stared at her husband’s name.
The gala had made her question whether Julian respected her.
The document in front of her forced a worse question.
May you like
Did she know him at all?
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