Chapter 6 - THE EIGHTEEN MILLION DOLLAR BETRAYAL
Corbin called the letter “preliminary.”
Then “nonbinding.”
Then “misunderstood.”
The description changed every five minutes.
The signature did not.
Selena refused to argue.
The board referred it to outside counsel.
Corbin hated that.
He wanted emotion.
He wanted Selena screaming so he could point to the furious abandoned wife.
She gave him minutes, resolutions, and independent counsel.
By afternoon, he was placed on administrative leave from The Glass Monarch pending review.
Not fired.
Not yet.
Vivian exploded when she heard.
She cornered Selena in the parking garage.
“You’re enjoying this.”
Selena stopped beside her car.
“No.”
“Liar.”
“Believe whatever makes you feel important.”
Vivian stepped closer.
“You lost him long before the funeral.”
Selena looked at her.
“Then why did you need to come watch me receive divorce papers?”
That landed.
Vivian’s confidence flickered.
“You think owning a company means you own him too?”
“No.”
“That seems to be where you and I differ.”
Selena opened her car door.
Then Vivian said:
“He never loved your quiet little life.”
Selena almost smiled.
“You mean the life that paid for the project you billed three million dollars?”
Vivian went pale.
Good.
She had not known how much Selena knew.
“Those contracts were legitimate.”
“Then the audit will help you.”
Selena left.
That evening, Malcolm brought Thomas’s private correspondence.
Her father had learned about Silver Arc nine months earlier.
He did not immediately block it.
Instead, he met with Corbin.
Privately.
The notes from that meeting were short.
CORBIN BELIEVES SELENA IS TOO SENTIMENTAL TO SELL.
CORBIN BELIEVES I CAN BE PERSUADED.
CORBIN DOES NOT KNOW OWNERSHIP PASSES ENTIRELY TO SELENA.
Selena touched her father’s handwriting.
“He knew Corbin was trying to go around me.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
Malcolm looked uncomfortable.
“He hoped Corbin would stop.”
“He protected him.”
“Partly.”
Selena stood.
Anger finally came.
“My father knew my husband was negotiating behind my back and said nothing?”
“He also knew you were caring for your mother through hospice.”
“That doesn’t answer me.”
“No.”
Malcolm accepted her anger.
Then handed her another note.
Thomas had confronted Corbin.
Corbin apparently claimed the acquisition plan was only strategic exploration.
Thomas told him to disclose it to Selena.
Corbin promised.
Never did.
Then Thomas wrote:
IF HE TELLS HER VOLUNTARILY, THERE MAY STILL BE A MARRIAGE TO SAVE.
Selena sat down.
Her father had not protected Corbin because he approved.
He gave him a chance to choose honesty.
Corbin failed.
Again.
Then Malcolm showed her something stranger.
Thomas had secretly purchased a small stake in Silver Arc Entertainment.
Why?
“To gain information.”
“How much?”
“Four percent.”
Enough to receive certain investor materials.
That was how he discovered Corbin’s compensation.
Selena shook her head.
“Dad was spying.”
“Your father called it due diligence.”
Of course he did.
Then Malcolm slid over a Silver Arc internal memo.
Project Crownfall.
The acquisition strategy assumed Thomas and Margaret Renner’s deaths would create an estate-liquidity problem.
Silver Arc believed heirs might need cash.
They planned to approach immediately after probate.
Someone had given them detailed information about the Renners’ estate planning.
“Who?”
The memo cited:
Source: C.A.
Corbin Ashford.
Selena stopped breathing.
Corbin had not merely planned around her parents’ deaths.
He had provided information about their finances to the buyer.
Then Malcolm said:
“There’s more.”
Silver Arc had prepared its formal approach before the funeral.
Timing instruction:
CONTACT WITHIN 72 HOURS OF THOMAS RENNER’S DEATH.
Corbin served Selena divorce papers the same morning Silver Arc expected the Renner family to be most vulnerable.
May you like
It had never been only cruelty.
It had been timing.
