Chapter 10 - The Offer That Revealed EverythingBrandon moved toward Victor.
I did not stop him.
Sometimes a man must be allowed to walk far enough toward a mistake to recognize it for what it is.
Victor opened the leather folder wider.
“Your company has potential,” he told Brandon. “You have a good name, valuable connections, and the right background. What you've lacked is the capital to compete at the highest level.”
Brandon looked at the documents.
“How much?”
Victor smiled.
“Enough.”
“How much money are we talking about?”
“Two million to clear your immediate obligations. More once the transaction closes.”
Amber's eyes flicked toward Victor.
It was a tiny movement.
But I saw it.
So did Richard.
Brandon did not seem to notice.
“And what do you want from me?”
“Your cooperation. Nothing more.”
“Cooperation with what?”
Victor spread his hands.
“The transfer of a contractual interest your father has been sitting on for years. You already have access to the family records. Your father has the original documents. We need to bring the two together.”
Richard spoke sharply.
“Mr. Sloane, if you intend to make a proposal involving disputed property or corporate interests, do so through counsel.”
Victor smiled politely.
“Of course. I wouldn't dream of doing otherwise.”
Yet he continued looking at Brandon.
“You've spent your entire life waiting for your father to approve of you. You let him buy your house. You let him finance your business. You let him decide what kind of man you're allowed to become.”
Brandon stiffened.
“You don't know anything about my relationship with my father.”
“I know he sold your home the moment you disappointed him.”
“He sold a property owned by his company.”
“That's the version his lawyer wants you to believe.”
Richard took a step forward.
“The ownership records are clear.”
Victor shrugged.
“Records can be interpreted.”
“They can also be verified.”
For several seconds, the two men stared at each other.
Then Victor returned his attention to Brandon.
“Your father has spent years making you feel dependent. I'm offering you the chance to become independent.”
I saw the temptation in my son's face.
Two million dollars would solve his immediate financial problems. It would allow him to repay creditors, restore his business, and recover the lifestyle he had worked so hard to display.
It would also allow him to avoid confronting the possibility that he had built his adult life on borrowed security.
I understood the appeal.
That did not make it any less dangerous.
“Brandon,” I said, “ask him one question.”
Victor turned toward me.
“What question?”
I ignored him.
“Ask him why the lender rejected the application.”
Brandon looked at Victor.
“Why did they reject it?”
Victor's smile tightened.
“Administrative complications.”
“Which complications?”
“The lender became uncomfortable with the structure.”
“Because the property isn't mine?”
Victor closed the folder.
“Because your father interfered.”
“No,” Richard said. “Because the ownership and authorization claims could not be substantiated.”
Victor's expression hardened.
“Do you always have to make everything sound criminal?”
“Only when the documents warrant scrutiny.”
Amber stepped between them.
“Enough. We came here to resolve this, not argue.”
I looked at her.
“You said the blue box contained evidence establishing Victor's rights. What evidence?”
She pressed her lips together.
“The original agreement.”
“Then why is Victor holding a copy?”
“Because copies can be incomplete.”
“Is that what he told you?”
She did not answer.
Brandon looked at his wife.
“Amber, what did you promise him?”
She turned toward him.
“I promised to help secure the investment.”
“With my father's company?”
“With the business opportunity he offered us.”
“Did you know the signature on the management document wasn't real?”
Her eyes flashed.
“You're accusing me now?”
“I'm asking you a question.”
She laughed bitterly.
“You've become exactly like him.”
Brandon flinched.
For a moment, the old pattern returned: Amber attacked, Brandon withdrew, and the person who had asked a reasonable question became the villain.
Then Brandon looked at Victor.
“What happens if we don't give you the box?”
Victor's voice became colder.
“Then your company's obligations remain unresolved. Your creditors will continue demanding payment. Your reputation will suffer. And you will have to explain to every person who trusted you why your business failed.”
“That sounds like a threat.”
“It's a prediction.”
Victor turned toward me.
“And you, Franklin, will be left with nothing but an old box of papers and a son who hates you.”
I considered him.
For fifteen years, I had wondered whether refusing Victor's scheme had cost me opportunities. I had occasionally questioned whether I could have handled the old business dispute differently.
Now I understood something.
Victor had never stopped trying to prove that every person had a price.
He simply changed the currency.
“Richard,” I said, “we're leaving.”
Victor laughed.
“That's your answer?”
“Yes.”
“You're walking away from millions of dollars.”
“No. I'm walking away from a man who believes other people's desperation is an investment opportunity.”
I turned toward the exit.
Brandon remained where he stood.
“Dad,” he said.
I stopped.
He looked at the folder, then at Victor.
“I want to know exactly what I'm signing.”
Victor's smile disappeared.
Brandon continued.
“I want the full agreement reviewed by an independent attorney. I want the lender's correspondence. I want proof that the proposed transaction is legitimate. And I want every document involving my father's company.”
Amber stared at him.
“Brandon, stop.”
He did not look at her.
“If everything is honest, there should be no problem.”
Victor slowly closed the folder.
“You've made your choice.”
“Not yet,” Brandon replied. “I'm asking questions.”
Victor's eyes hardened.
“Questions have consequences.”
He walked away.
Amber followed him.
Brandon stayed behind.
When the warehouse door closed, he turned toward me.
“I think I just lost my wife.”
I looked at my son.
“No, Brandon. I think you just began to discover who she is.”
Then Richard's phone vibrated.
He read the message and went completely still.
“What is it?” I asked.
He handed me the screen.
The message came from the lending company's legal department.
They had located a second application.
May you like
This one had been submitted under my name.
And it requested a loan of twelve million dollars.
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