Chapter 4 - What Vivian Knew
Daniel returned to Alderwick the next morning.
The party decorations were still being dismantled.
Wilted roses filled trash bags.
White tablecloths lay folded in piles.
The green garden hose remained beside the flower bed.
He stared at it longer than he intended.
Vivian waited in the library.
She had changed into black trousers and a white blouse.
No makeup.
No performance.
Daniel placed the hidden liability schedule on the table.
“How much did you know?”
Vivian sat down.
“Cross Development has short-term obligations.”
“One hundred eighty-six million dollars.”
“Gross.”
“What does that mean?”
“There are receivables, land assets, projects under contract—”
“How much debt?”
She looked at him.
“One hundred eighty-six million.”
Daniel laughed once.
His voice contained no humor.
“The disclosure package said ninety-one.”
“That was funded debt.”
“This says consolidated liabilities.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t I see it?”
“You were supposed to.”
“When?”
“Before closing.”
“We announce the merger before closing.”
“A merger announcement isn’t completion.”
“You were going to let me stand in front of investors and employees and praise a deal before telling me Cross owes almost twice what I believed.”
Vivian’s eyes hardened.
“My father was negotiating refinancing.”
“With my assets.”
“With combined assets.”
“My company has low leverage because my father spent thirty years refusing deals like this.”
Vivian looked away.
Daniel noticed.
“What?”
“James was not the conservative businessman you think he was.”
Daniel’s shoulders tightened.
“My mother said something similar.”
“Then maybe listen to her.”
“Don’t use her now.”
Vivian flinched.
“I know what I did yesterday was disgusting.”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t know who she was.”
“That makes it worse.”
“How?”
“Because you think doing that to a stranger would have been acceptable.”
Vivian’s face crumpled briefly.
She controlled it.
“No.”
“You sprayed a seventy-year-old woman because she embarrassed you at a party.”
“I lost my temper.”
“You aimed twice.”
Silence.
Daniel sat opposite her.
“Why did you never meet my mother?”
“You tell me.”
He frowned.
“You avoided it.”
“So did you.”
That hurt because it was true.
Daniel had introduced Vivian to executives, college friends, board members, donors.
He had never driven her to Charlottesville.
He told himself Margaret preferred distance.
The truth was less flattering.
His mother’s small house, old car, and complete indifference to status did not fit easily into Daniel’s new world.
He had not been ashamed exactly.
But he had allowed discomfort to become absence.
Vivian leaned forward.
“You told me she abandoned the company after your father died.”
“She did.”
“Did she?”
Daniel thought of the documents.
“I don’t know anymore.”
Vivian looked at the merger schedule.
“My father believes combining the companies saves both families.”
“Bennett doesn’t need saving.”
“Not today.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Vivian hesitated.
“Ask Lucas about Riverstone.”
Daniel went still.
Riverstone was Bennett Properties’ largest active residential development.
“What about it?”
“I’m not discussing your company’s problems for you.”
“What problems?”
“Ask your CFO.”
Daniel immediately called Lucas.
This time he answered.
“Daniel.”
“What happened at Riverstone?”
A long pause.
“Who told you?”
“Vivian.”
“Daniel, we should meet.”
“No. Now.”
Lucas exhaled.
“A subcontractor filed a claim over structural remediation costs.”
“How much?”
“Potential exposure could reach thirty-two million.”
Daniel stood.
“When did you know?”
“Preliminary notice came three weeks ago.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You were in merger negotiations.”
“That is exactly why you tell me.”
“I was waiting for engineering review.”
Daniel looked at Vivian.
She knew.
His CFO knew.
He did not.
He ended the call.
Vivian whispered, “We both have problems.”
Daniel stared at her.
“No.”
“What?”
“We both have secrets.”
She flinched.
“The merger might still make financial sense.”
“Maybe.”
Daniel gathered the papers.
“But I will never sign it because everyone hid bad numbers until they thought I was too committed to walk away.”
Vivian stood.
“Daniel—”
“The engagement is suspended.”
Her face went white.
“Because I sprayed your mother?”
“Because I don’t know who I’m marrying.”
She swallowed.
“And you know who you are?”
The question stopped him.
Vivian stepped closer.
“You spent years pretending your mother didn’t exist because she didn’t fit the Bennett story.”
Daniel’s jaw clenched.
“I never pretended she didn’t exist.”
“You just kept her somewhere nobody could see.”
He looked toward the lawn.
The hose lay in the grass.
Vivian’s words landed because they were unfair only in degree.
Not in direction.
Daniel walked out without answering.
In his car, a message from Lucas waited.
There’s something else about Riverstone. Do not call Gordon Cross until we talk.
A second message arrived.
The subcontractor making the claim is partly owned by Cross Development.
Daniel stared at the screen.
The merger was beginning to look less like a rescue.
May you like
And more like a trap.
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