Chapter 3 - Bianca’s Blue Horizon Numbers Do Not Match
Christopher joined the meeting by video.
He did not congratulate Garrett.
He asked for Bianca’s slide deck.
Martin sent it.
Christopher compared it with the lender model.
“The projected profit isn’t nine hundred million.”
Bianca crossed her arms.
“It’s based on updated assumptions.”
“Whose?”
“Mine.”
Christopher looked unimpressed.
The lender model estimated a potential range far below Bianca’s headline
figure, dependent on zoning, construction costs, occupancy, and
refinancing conditions.
Nine hundred million was an optimistic scenario presented as an
expectation.
Several shareholders became angry.
Garrett defended her.
“She was simplifying.”
Rosalie asked:
“For investors?”
Nobody answered.
The company was preparing for an IPO.
Overstating project economics in internal materials used for shareholder
decisions could become serious if those numbers migrated into offering
documents.
Rosalie did not accuse anyone of securities fraud.
She ordered the presentation preserved and referred to counsel and the
audit committee.
Garrett laughed bitterly.
“You’ve been CEO for five minutes now?”
“I’m not CEO.”
Rosalie reminded him she was still a director and thirty-percent
shareholder.
Her power came from specific rights, not imagination.
Then she asked why Bianca occupied the chairman’s seat.
Garrett said:
“Because she prepared the presentation.”
The actual board chair, Thomas Reed, looked furious.
He had been delayed downstairs by a security credential issue.
His seat had been given away before he arrived.
Bianca’s confidence suddenly looked less glamorous.
It looked institutional.
She had been allowed to behave like an executive without holding
executive responsibility.
Rosalie recognized the pattern.
Garrett had not simply cheated on her emotionally or physically.
He had blurred personal loyalty with corporate authority.
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And now the company’s largest transaction was sitting on top of those
blurred lines.
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