Chapter 7 - THE BILLIONAIRE WHO FINALLY STARTED LISTENING
Nathaniel postponed the Aster acquisition the following morning.
Oliver Price was furious.
Vivien was worse.
At noon, she arrived at Vanguard's Manhattan headquarters and demanded to see her fiancé.
Nathaniel agreed.
But this time, he insisted that an independent attorney attend the meeting.
“What is this?” Vivien asked as she entered his office.
“A review.”
“Of what?”
“Your involvement with Aster Analytics.”
She laughed.
“Darling, I introduced you to an excellent investment. Is that a crime now?”
“No.”
Nathaniel slid a document across the desk.
“But failing to disclose a financial interest in a transaction worth two hundred ten million dollars is a problem.”
Vivien looked down.
According to the preliminary ownership report, a company called Croft Advisory held an eleven-percent economic interest in a fund that would benefit from the sale.
Vivien was Croft Advisory's sole owner.
Nathaniel had never heard of it.
“It's a consulting arrangement,” she said.
“Then why wasn't it disclosed?”
“I didn't think it was relevant.”
“Twenty-three million dollars in potential proceeds isn't relevant?”
Her face hardened.
“Are you accusing me of something?”
“I'm asking you to explain.”
For perhaps the first time in their relationship, Nathaniel wasn't satisfied with the answer she wanted to give.
Meanwhile, I was meeting Rebecca in a small conference room above her law firm's office.
She had obtained historical records from the original Jenkins Capital investigation.
The documents confirmed that Samantha Bell had approved several compliance reports prepared during the period when money disappeared.
But the records also contained repeated objections from my father.
One particularly important memo had been filed eleven days before the fund collapsed.
Dad warned that Silver Swan's designated beneficiary records did not match the authorized investment instructions.
The memo was marked:
REVIEW PENDING.
Then the next page stated that the issue had been resolved.
Approved by Samantha Bell.
I felt sick.
“She knew.”
Rebecca remained careful.
“She certified that the discrepancy was resolved. We still need to establish what she actually knew and whether the certification was knowingly false.”
But the certification was real.
And Vivien had spent years pretending that period of her life no longer existed.
Then Rebecca opened another folder.
“Harper, I found something about Calvin.”
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
“He wasn't merely a security contractor.”
Calvin had been paid by a consulting company controlled by Graham Voss in the months following my father's death.
Then, years later, he began receiving irregular transfers from a different company.
Croft Advisory.
Vivien's company.
I stared.
“She was paying him?”
“Possibly for years.”
“Why?”
Rebecca looked at me.
“That's what we need to find out.”
I thought about the way Calvin had approached Vivien at the restaurant.
He had demanded two million dollars.
He had acted like a man who controlled the situation.
But perhaps their relationship was older and more complicated than either admitted.
That afternoon, Nathaniel called Rebecca directly.
He had hired an independent forensic accounting firm to review Aster, Silver Swan, and the historical Vanguard investment.
He offered to share documents legally available to my father's estate.
Rebecca accepted the offer with conditions.
No private arrangements.
No promises.
No pressure on me.
Nathaniel agreed.
Then he asked to speak with me.
“Harper, I owe you an apology.”
I remained silent.
“I watched Vivien humiliate people because confronting her always became exhausting.”
“Yes.”
“I convinced myself the restaurant should handle its employees.”
“Yes.”
“That was cowardice.”
For the first time, I heard a billionaire describe his own behavior without trying to excuse it.
“I can't undo it,” he said.
“No.”
“But I can stop participating.”
That was a beginning.
Then Rebecca received a new message from the forensic team.
A photograph was attached.
Calvin Rusk.
Graham Voss.
A private restaurant in Connecticut.
The photograph had been taken three days before Calvin confronted Vivien at the Winslow.
They hadn't simply known each other nine years ago.
May you like
They were still meeting.
And apparently, Calvin had lied about how he became involved in the case again.
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