Chapter 4 - THE SALE I NEVER SIGNED
I thought Lucas needed my signature to sell Lumina.
He did.
So he planned to manufacture one.
Gavin found the document in the deleted attachments of Lucas’s company email.
Asset Purchase Agreement.
Lumina Restaurant & Wine Bar.
Purchase price:
$3.8 million.
Buyer:
Calder Restaurant Group.
Seller signature:
Camilla Hayes.
Except I had never seen the agreement.
My signature looked perfect.
Too perfect.
It had been lifted from the liquor-license renewal I signed six months earlier.
Lucas watched me read it.
His face no longer carried anger.
Only calculation.
“When were you going to submit this?”
He said nothing.
Nathan whispered, “Monday.”
Today was Friday.
Three days.
I looked at Gavin.
“When would Calder take control?”
“According to this, closing is next Thursday.”
My stomach turned.
One week.
That was how close I had come to walking into my own restaurant and discovering another company owned the equipment, lease rights, recipes, and customer list.
I turned to Lucas.
“You were going to sell my restaurant for $3.8 million.”
“It was worth more to us sold.”
“Us?”
“Camilla, listen.”
“No. You’ve had years of me listening.”
I pointed at the agreement.
“Where would the money go?”
“The joint account.”
Gavin shook his head.
“No.”
Lucas glared.
Gavin pulled up the settlement instructions.
The purchase proceeds would go to an escrow account.
From there:
$612,000 to satisfy Calder-related “consulting obligations.”
$430,000 to Lumina Coastal Dining.
$200,000 to Westmere Hospitality.
The remaining balance to a marital trust.
I stared at him.
“You were going to use the sale to erase your debt, fund Sophia’s restaurant, pay your mother, and then park the rest somewhere you controlled.”
Beatrice shook her head.
“I didn’t know about the sale.”
For once, I believed her.
Lucas had lied to everyone.
Even his accomplices.
Nathan sat completely still.
“I thought Calder was investing.”
“No,” I said.
“He was buying the corpse.”
I called my attorney.
Elena Park had represented Lumina since opening day.
She arrived twenty minutes later.
I showed her everything.
She did not look surprised.
That annoyed me.
“You suspected something?”
“I suspected Lucas was pushing beyond his authority.”
“How?”
“He called me last month asking whether spouses could execute asset agreements during temporary incapacity.”
The room froze.
“What incapacity?”
“He said you might need surgery.”
I had no surgery scheduled.
Elena’s face hardened.
“He asked whether he could sign for you if you were hospitalized.”
My stomach turned.
Lucas had been planning for a moment when I couldn’t stop him.
Not because he knew I’d be sick.
Because he intended to create the paperwork anyway.
Elena called the escrow company immediately.
The closing was frozen.
Then Calder Group called me directly.
Not Lucas.
Reece Calder himself.
His voice was smooth.
“Camilla, I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”
“You have a forged purchase agreement.”
“I was told your husband had authority.”
“He doesn’t.”
Pause.
“I didn’t know that.”
“Then your lawyers are terrible.”
He almost laughed.
“Maybe.”
Then his tone changed.
“Your husband owes me money.”
“That sounds like your problem.”
“It becomes yours when the collateral is your restaurant.”
“I never pledged Lumina.”
“I know.”
That surprised me.
“What?”
He exhaled.
“I knew Lucas couldn’t legally pledge it.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“Then why did you agree to buy it?”
“Because he offered something else.”
“What?”
Silence.
Then Reece said:
“Your recipes.”
I laughed.
“You can’t own recipes.”
“Not just recipes.”
He lowered his voice.
“He gave us your vendor pricing, reservation data, staff compensation, private client list, wine-cellar inventory, and expansion plans.”
I went cold.
Trade secrets.
Customer information.
Internal strategy.
Lucas had already stolen half the business even before selling it.
But Reece wasn’t finished.
“And Camilla?”
May you like
“Yes?”
“I think you should know Sophia Bennett works for me.”
