Chapter 7 - THE CONDO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THEIR NEW LIFE
The condominium cost $1.74 million.
Brett had purchased it through an LLC.
No company money.
No Audrey money.
His personal loan.
His personal obligation.
That almost made the discovery worse.
He had planned carefully.
Closets.
Furniture.
A second bedroom Sierra wanted as an office.
Closing scheduled for two weeks after the gala.
“He was really leaving,” Audrey whispered.
Rebecca Sloan, her divorce attorney, nodded.
“Yes.”
Not a temporary affair.
Not indecision.
A planned exit.
Then why had Brett not filed for divorce?
The Halberd transaction.
His loan documents assumed liquidity from the expected sale-related distribution.
A divorce before closing could complicate valuation, ownership, disclosures, and perhaps his borrowing terms.
So Brett planned to close the deal first.
Then leave.
Audrey sat very still.
He had invited her to the gala as wife and co-shareholder while planning to install another woman in a new home weeks later.
The brooch had not been an accident of passion.
It was worse.
Symbolism.
Brett had told Sierra:
“Tonight is the beginning of the next version.”
He had handed her Opal’s brooch before they left the Gold Coast condo.
Sierra believed it was a vintage piece Brett purchased.
At least according to her statement.
Audrey did not know whether she believed every word.
It no longer mattered enough.
Then Brett’s $2.2 million personal loan created another business problem.
His lender held a security interest in a portion of his distributions and certain transfer rights associated with his shares.
Not voting control.
But if Brett defaulted, his financial situation could become unstable.
The Halberd deal had become not only his professional ambition.
He needed it personally.
That explained urgency.
At the next board meeting, Eleanor asked Audrey whether she wanted to become interim CEO.
“No.”
Everyone looked surprised.
“You co-founded the company.”
“Yes.”
“And you know operations.”
“Yes.”
“Then why?”
“Because I haven’t run seven restaurants day-to-day in years.”
Audrey knew enough to refuse a victory that could become another failure.
They appointed Martin Webb as interim CEO.
Professional.
Boring.
Competent.
Audrey accepted temporary chair of the brand-and-heritage committee.
A role she actually understood.
Then the board voted to suspend the Atelier transaction pending conflict review.
Halberd did not disappear.
Their representatives simply said:
“Call us when governance is resolved.”
Business could wait.
Apparently Brett had been wrong about the apocalypse.
Then an internal employee message leaked.
Rumors exploded.
AUDREY FINCH HOLLOWAY BLOCKS $42M DEAL AFTER CEO AFFAIR.
The headline was predictable.
The truth less convenient.
Audrey had not blocked the deal because of the affair.
She had refused a permanent IP license in a transaction never fully disclosed to her.
But online outrage prefers shorter sentences.
Then Micah saw one.
He threw his phone across his bedroom.
Audrey sat beside him.
“They’re calling you jealous.”
“I know.”
“You’re not.”
“I know.”
“Why don’t you tell them?”
“Because strangers are not entitled to our whole life.”
Micah looked at her.
That answer frustrated him.
Then he said:
“Dad gets to lie first.”
There it was.
The instinct to correct every story.
Audrey understood it deeply.
But she said:
“The company will correct business facts.”
“And the rest?”
“We live.”
Micah stared.
“That’s boring.”
“Yes.”
Then:
“Boring is underrated.”
Two days later, Holloway House issued a formal factual statement naming both Audrey and Brett as co-founders and disclosing Brett’s temporary leave pending governance review.
No affair details.
No Sierra humiliation.
No child heroics.
Then Audrey received a package.
Inside was Opal’s brooch.
Repaired.
Polished.
Wrapped in red velvet.
Underneath was a handwritten note from Sierra.
May you like
I knew he was married. I did not know he was planning to erase you.
And I found something in the condo that you should see before Brett destroys it.
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