Chapter 6 - The Offer Behind the PregnancyHollis Crane did not look like a man who belonged beside family photographs.
He arrived at Harper Leisure's headquarters Wednesday wearing a tailored gray suit and a watch that cost more than many employees earned in a year.
Hollis managed Halcyon Development.
For nearly two years his company had attempted to purchase Harper Leisure's lakefront properties.
Daniel rejected every offer.
“Good to see you,” Hollis said.
Daniel did not take his hand.
“I wasn't told you were coming.”
“Vanessa invited me.”
Vanessa sat at Samuel's old conference table.
Owen stood by the window.
A binder lay between them.
PROJECT HARBORVIEW.
Daniel looked at his wife.
“What is this?”
“A solution.”
“To what?”
“Our financing.”
Owen cleared his throat.
“The company's credit facility expires this fall.”
“I know.”
“The recent family controversy affects lender confidence.”
“One pool incident doesn't destroy a company.”
Hollis opened the binder.
A rendering showed luxury residential towers where two Harper resorts now stood.
“We're prepared to offer twenty-eight million for the relevant operating assets and real estate.”
Daniel stared.
“You've shown me this.”
“Not with this structure.”
“Still no.”
Vanessa's hand rested where the prosthetic belly used to be.
The gesture was almost automatic.
“You're thinking emotionally.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You pretended to be pregnant.”
Her face tightened.
“This meeting is about the company.”
“No. Apparently everything is about the pregnancy.”
Hollis shifted.
Daniel turned pages.
A projected acquisition fee caught his eye.
North Quay Advisory LLC — $950,000.
“Who's North Quay?”
Owen moved toward the binder.
“Transaction consultant.”
“For almost a million?”
“Complex deals cost money.”
“Who owns it?”
Nobody answered.
Daniel closed the binder.
“No sale discussion until I see complete financials and related-party disclosures.”
Vanessa's expression changed.
Fear.
Only for a second.
Daniel left.
Hollis waited.
Then looked at Vanessa.
“He knows the name.”
“He knows nothing.”
Owen rubbed his forehead.
“The fake pregnancy is already public.”
Vanessa turned.
“Watch your wording.”
Hollis studied her.
“Did your plan work?”
Owen looked confused.
“What plan?”
Hollis smiled faintly.
“Getting Daniel emotionally ready to sign.”
Vanessa said nothing.
After Hollis left, Owen approached her.
“I need to ask.”
“Don't.”
“You tripped Emma?”
Vanessa's eyes hardened.
“Be careful.”
“She is three.”
“Everything I did was for this family.”
“That isn't an answer.”
Vanessa stepped closer.
“Neither is forgetting who signed the trust transfers.”
Owen went pale.
“If those records come out,” she whispered, “whose name is on them?”
His.
That night Daniel received an email from Hollis.
Attached:
Risk Management Strategy.
One sentence was highlighted.
Following confirmation of an additional Harper heir and a documented household-safety crisis involving the existing beneficiary, management is expected to become more receptive to accelerated restructuring.
Daniel read it twice.
The document was created four days before the pool party.
Four days before Emma fell.
May you like
Four days before Sofia rescued her.
And four days before Sofia punctured a pregnancy that had never existed.
Related Stories
