Chapter 7 - THE FIRST VALUATION
The independent valuation surprised me.
Crestline’s offer was not terrible.
$104 million.
Updated range:
$106–$116 million after two contract losses and one major renewal.
Mother had been right about one thing:
The business was riskier than six months earlier.
Could Crestline improve price?
Probably.
Could waiting lower it?
Also possible.
Then side agreements.
Independent compensation adviser concluded:
Mother’s $2.8 million consulting fee exceeded reasonable transition value.
Likely fair range:
$900,000–$1.4 million.
Property lease transition:
Needed separate appraisal.
Delphine’s $1.15 million advisory package:
No clear operational justification.
Recommended removal.
There.
Deal itself could be sound.
Family side packages were the problem.
Not evil private equity.
Not company rescue.
Conflicts.
Then employee review.
Crestline planned:
No immediate pension termination.
Some corporate-office redundancy.
Potential 120–160 positions at risk over eighteen months.
Could be less.
Could be more.
Sale had real tradeoffs.
I hated that complexity.
If Mother’s entire scheme had been attached to a terrible deal, saying no would feel easy.
Instead, the business question deserved its own answer.
Then special committee asked Crestline to revise.
They did not immediately.
Negotiation.
Good.
Meanwhile, Mother’s conduct petition continued.
Independent investigator interviewed relatives.
Aunt Cecily admitted Mother sometimes texted her:
“Everett is coming. Stay close.”
Why?
Cecily thought:
To keep peace.
Then Mother asked her after Christmas:
“Did you get video?”
She did not.
That was strange.
Then cousin Mark produced one message:
MOTHER:
If Everett loses his temper tonight, do not intervene too quickly.
MARK:
Why?
MOTHER:
He needs to understand there are consequences.
Mark did not reply.
He also did not understand the scheme then.
He now felt sick.
Could relatives have been complicit by staying silent?
Morally perhaps.
Legally not necessarily.
Then the payment sheet’s author became clear.
Mother.
Forensic handwriting and spreadsheet login.
No assistant.
No accountant.
Her.
Then one note under Delphine’s name:
Need one clear public incident before conduct memo can move.
Date:
Ten days before the dinner.
There.
Objective almost explicit.
Conduct memo.
Transaction timing.
Still not full central confirmation until legal/company review tied it together at Ch10.
Then I made another mistake.
Not public this time.
I confronted Miles Corbett aggressively during a video call.
“You have everything you need.”
“No.”
“Texts. Payments. Video.”
“For provocation, yes.”
“So remove Mother.”
“From what?”
“The family council.”
“We have process.”
“She used my daughter.”
“I know.”
“She should be gone today.”
“Everett.”
I stood.
“Do not tell me to calm down.”
“I was going to tell you that your daughter being harmed does not give me authority I don’t have.”
Silence.
Again.
Process.
I hated it because Mother had exploited process.
But bypassing it would only reproduce her logic.
Miles continued:
“I can suspend transaction activity. I can preserve records. I can restrict family-office spending. I cannot permanently remove a fiduciary without findings.”
“Fine.”
“Is it?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Then:
“You also need to know your economic distributions are not being cut.”
Mother had requested suspension.
Independent trustee denied because conduct review related to governance, not beneficiary need.
So her threat:
Tomorrow I’ll make sure you never see family money.
False in scale.
She could request.
Not command.
That mattered.
Then Mother called Aunt Cecily and said:
“Everett will bankrupt the family.”
Cecily replied:
“He still gets his shares if company sells.”
Mother:
“It isn’t about his shares.”
There.
Cecily recorded nothing secretly; she later wrote contemporaneous notes.
Not strong evidence.
But truthful.
If not Everett’s money, what?
Control.
Transaction.
Reputation.
The pieces were close.
Then Delphine sent me a text before counsel could stop her.
I didn’t think she would fall.
One sentence.
Willa.
I stared.
Then another:
I was supposed to make you angry, not hurt her like that.
There.
Direct.
I forwarded it to Jonah.
Did not reply.
He called.
“Good.”
“What?”
“You didn’t answer.”
“Low bar.”
“Today, we take low bars.”
Delphine had finally admitted the provocation.
The next question was who designed it and why.
We already suspected.
May you like
But suspicion is not confirmation.
That would come from the family-office files Mother was still fighting to keep confidential.
