Chapter 7
I slid a financial analysis across the table.
It compared the projected value of the company before and after the proposed transfer. It also identified the contracts being moved, the liabilities being retained, and the effect on minority shareholders.
I had not prepared the analysis to punish Carter.
I had prepared it because the numbers mattered.
And because people who believed they could hide behind complicated paperwork often depended on nobody bothering to read it.
The room fell quiet as the directors reviewed the figures.
Carter's CFO began to explain that the proposed structure was intended to improve operational efficiency.
I asked him one question.
“If efficiency is the goal, why does the new subsidiary have a separate ownership structure that excludes the existing shareholders?”
He stopped speaking.
I continued.
“And why do the internal projections show that the subsidiary would receive the most profitable contracts while the parent company retains the debt associated with developing them?”
The CFO looked toward Carter.
That glance answered more than his words had.
One of the directors removed his glasses.
“Carter, did you approve this structure?”
“Yes, but the details are being misrepresented.”
“Then explain them.”
Carter launched into a speech about growth, market conditions, and the importance of protecting the company's future. He spoke confidently, but his explanations never quite addressed the financial discrepancies.
For the first time, the room was no longer responding to his certainty.
They were checking his facts.
After nearly an hour, the board voted to suspend the proposed transaction pending an independent investigation.
The resolution passed.
Carter voted against it.
He was outnumbered.
When the meeting ended, the directors filed out one by one. Patricia remained in her seat, visibly furious.
Carter waited until the room was nearly empty before approaching me.
“You planned this.”
I closed my folder.
“I didn't plan your decision to file for divorce.”
“You knew this would happen.”
“I knew what the agreement said.”
“You could have warned me.”
I looked at him for a long moment.
“I did warn you.”
His brow furrowed.
“Years ago, when your father was alive, I asked you to review the shareholder agreement with me. You said you trusted your father's lawyers and didn't have time for paperwork.”
“That was different.”
“No, Carter. It was inconvenient. That's why you ignored it.”
He stepped closer and lowered his voice.
“You're destroying everything I've built.”
I felt a strange sadness.