Chapter 5 - A Father's Blind Spot
Mason took a slow sip of his black tea, his mind processing the catastrophic implications of what lay before him.
"Arthur Remington was my college roommate at Princeton," Mason said, his voice heavy with ancient history.
"He built that firm from a two-desk operation above an auto repair shop in Queens."
"Arthur is a brilliant analyst, but he is a blind father," I replied, remembering the countless times I had begged him to rein in his son.
Three years earlier, Alden had brought a commercial real estate deal to the investment committee.
It was a proposed five-hundred-acre luxury resort development in the Florida Everglades that sounded magnificent on glossy paper.
Alden had boasted that the firm stood to triple its investment within eighteen months.
Arthur had looked proud, ready to sign the wire authorizations right there in the boardroom.
I had spent forty-eight consecutive hours digging through county property records and environmental impact registries.
The land company did not own the development parcels; they held worthless options on protected wetlands tied up in federal litigation.
Three regional banks had already initiated foreclosure proceedings against the shell entities involved.
When I presented the certified court records to Arthur, he canceled the funding immediately.
Alden had sat across that walnut conference table, staring at me with pure, unadulterated hatred burning in his eyes.
"My son was just being ambitious, Harper," Arthur had told me privately in his office after the meeting ended.
"He will learn how to verify his due diligence with time."
"Sir, ambition without diligence is fraud," I had warned him, standing my ground.
Arthur had sighed, waving his hand dismissively while looking out over the Manhattan skyline.
"Harper, you are like family to me, but Alden is my blood."
"When I am gone, this company will bear his name, and you must learn to yield to his leadership."
I had yielded, keeping my head down, taking the blame for delayed reports, and cleaning up his administrative disasters.
I did it because Lily needed dental surgery, because my mother’s prescriptions cost fourteen hundred dollars a month, and because I had nowhere else to go.
"Arthur’s loyalty to that boy will land him in federal prison," Mason stated with flat, chilling certainty.
"Arthur doesn't know," I said, shaking my head.
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"Alden intercepted the external audit reports three weeks ago."
"Then it is time Arthur had his eyes opened," Mason said, pulling an encrypted smartphone from his pocket.
