Chapter 7 - Diana Reveals the Real Financial Crisis
My mother asked to meet alone.
We chose a lawyer’s conference room.
No hotel ballroom.
No family home.
No wine.
Diana looked ten years older.
She told me Hartwell Family Holdings had been carrying debt for years.
Not fatal debt.
But dangerous.
Charles expanded aggressively into commercial property before interest
rates changed.
Several buildings underperformed.
Then his law firm guaranteed part of a refinancing strategy.
My grandfather’s old company and Charles’s professional reputation
became entangled.
He needed additional collateral.
Camille signed.
I did not.
So he treated my signature as an administrative obstacle.
That phrase made me physically cold.
Administrative obstacle.
My consent.
My property.
My name.
Diana cried.
“He believed the assets would recover before anyone was harmed.”
“Did you?”
“I wanted to.”
That was not an answer.
Then she admitted why Charles desperately wanted Cross Meridian.
Nathaniel’s company was not simply a prospective legal client.
Cross Meridian was considering acquiring a portfolio from Hartwell
Family Holdings.
The sale proceeds could stabilize the debt.
Charles’s firm wanted to manage the transaction.
If the deal happened before anyone questioned the old collateral
documents, Charles believed everything could be cleaned up quietly.
My father had not poured wine on me because I upset Camille.
He had been angry before he approached.
He had seen Nathaniel’s name on my phone earlier that evening.
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For the first time, I wondered whether he had finally realized who “that
finance guy” was before Nathaniel entered the ballroom.
