Chapter 10 - The Marriage Was His Insurance Policy
“Insurance against what?”
Thain stared at the table.
“Losing the company.”
I almost didn’t understand.
Then he explained.
The startup had been under financial pressure for nearly a year.
A major customer delayed a contract.
Payroll expanded too quickly.
Investors expected growth Thain couldn’t deliver.
He became terrified that if the company failed, I would see him as a failure too.
So he started moving money.
First through Ravelin.
Then through credit.
Then by manipulating ownership documents.
Each lie required another lie.
“And Lyra?” I asked.
He looked ashamed.
“She made me feel like I was still the person everyone thought I was.”
“The brilliant founder?”
He nodded.
“The successful man?”
“Yes.”
“The married man?”
His eyes closed.
“Yes.”
I wanted to hate him.
Hate would have been cleaner.
Instead, I saw the man from our first apartment buried somewhere beneath layers of ego and fear.
That made it worse.
“Why prepare divorce papers?”
“Because if everything collapsed, I didn’t know what you would do.”
“So you prepared to blame me first.”
“I never filed them.”
“You forged my signature.”
“I know.”
“You used my inheritance.”
“I know.”
“You were going to let lenders come after me.”
“I thought I could repay it before that happened.”
There it was again.
He always thought tomorrow would erase yesterday.
Sloan asked whether he admitted signing my name on the Ravelin documents.
His attorney immediately interrupted.
Thain ignored him.
“Yes.”
The room went silent.
His own lawyer looked furious.
Thain rubbed both hands over his face.
“I did it.”
For the first time since this began, he stopped explaining.
No excuses.
No “we.”
No “our.”
Just:
“I did it.”
Then he looked at me.
“There’s one more thing you need to know.”
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
“The current funding round isn’t just about saving the company.”
He swallowed.
“If it doesn’t close by Friday, one of our lenders can force a sale.”
“A sale to whom?”
Thain hesitated.
Then he said the name.
“Marcus Bell.”
May you like
The investor who had been calling me for information wasn’t merely evaluating Thain’s company.
He was positioned to take control of it.
