Chapter 5 - MARGARET SLOAN’S SUMMONS
Margaret Sloan’s office occupied the thirty-second floor of the Renaissance Center,
overlooking the sprawling expanse of the Detroit riverfront.
Margaret had served as my father’s corporate counsel for thirty years.
She was a woman who wore tailored silver suits, silver-framed spectacles,
and an expression that suggested she knew every secret hidden in the state of Michigan.
When I stepped out of the private elevator, Margaret was waiting by her glass-walled conference room.
“Elise,” she greeted me, her voice brisk and professional.
“You look composed.
Good.
Because what I’m about to show you will require a stomach of iron.”
I followed her into the conference room.
Spread across the long glass table were thick stacks of forensic accounting reports, bank statements, and corporate filings.
“Your husband’s company is a house of cards,” Margaret stated bluntly, opening a red folder.
“Six months ago, MorganWell took out high-interest bridge loans to fund an expansion into commercial real estate in Chicago.
The venture collapsed.
Instead of cutting losses, Adrian concealed the failure from his investors.
He began shifting capital from corporate reserves to cover interest payments.”
“That’s embezzlement,” I noted quietly, scanning the highlighted columns of figures.
“Strictly speaking, yes,” Margaret confirmed.
“Furthermore, he used forged corporate resolutions to pledge MorganWell assets that didn't entirely belong to him.
If the auditors discover this before the merger goes through, the SEC will investigate within forty-eight hours.”
“And the Vale Harbor partnership?” I asked.
“That partnership is his literal lifeline,” Margaret explained.
“By merging MorganWell with Vale Harbor Hospitality, he absorbs our hotel revenues into his balance sheet,
instantly erasing his debt-to-equity deficit on paper.
It’s a massive financial shell game.”
“And who holds the ultimate veto power over that merger?”
Margaret offered a sharp, approving smile.
“You do.
Under Article Nine of the Harrison Vale Family Trust, any corporate acquisition involving Vale Harbor requires explicit, written authorization from the primary voting trustee.”
“Which is me.”
“Which is you,” Margaret repeated.
“Adrian filed the formal application last night.
The board of directors is scheduled to vote on it at ten o’clock this morning at the downtown headquarters.
They expect you to rubber-stamp it because you're his wife.”
I reached into my designer handbag and placed the encrypted flash drive Julian had given me onto the glass table.
“Inside this drive is audio and video evidence of Adrian using Vale Harbor’s Presidential Suite last night to entertain his mistress while discussing how he plans to manipulate the board and push out the old guard.”
Margaret stared at the flash drive for a long moment, then looked up at me with profound respect.
“My dear, your father would have been utterly dazzled.”
“My father taught me how to read people,” I said coldly.
May you like
“Adrian thought grief made me blind.
Let’s go show him how wrong he was.”
