Chương 3 - THE SIGNATURE
I unfolded the paper beneath the table.
It claimed I had transferred my forty-nine percent ownership in Holloway House Hospitality to Brett.
For ten dollars.
The date was six weeks earlier.
On that date, I had been in Iowa helping my aunt recover from surgery.
“What is this?” I asked.
Brett glanced at it.
Then at Micah.
“Where did you get that?”
“The blue box,” Micah said.
“You told me to put some papers in Mom’s office.”
Brett’s face changed.
Not much.
Enough.
“You signed that during restructuring,” he told me.
“No, I didn’t.”
“You sign dozens of things.”
“Not forty-nine percent of a company.”
People nearby were pretending to study their plates.
Lena stepped closer.
“Brett, let’s move this somewhere private.”
He turned on her.
“You’ve done enough.”
I photographed every page with my phone.
Brett reached for it.
I moved my hand away.
“Don’t.”
“Audrey, you’re upset.”
“I’m reading.”
“That’s a photocopy.”
“Then finding the original should be easy.”
His eyes flicked toward the investor table.
A gray-haired man in a navy suit was watching us closely.
Arthur Bell.
The lead investor Brett had spent months courting.
Arthur stood and approached.
“Is there a problem with the ownership documents?”
Brett laughed.
“Marital misunderstanding.”
“I didn’t ask about your marriage.”
For the first time that evening, Brett had no ready answer.
I handed Arthur my phone, keeping the paper.
“I never signed this.”
Arthur studied the photograph.
His expression hardened.
“Our acquisition agreement relies on his representation that he owns one hundred percent.”
Acquisition.
I looked at Brett.
“You’re selling?”
“Taking on a strategic partner.”
“You’re selling the restaurants.”
“You don’t understand the structure.”
“Then explain it.”
“Not while you’re doing this.”
Micah’s breathing quickened beside me.
I put my hand against his back.
“We’re leaving.”
Brett caught my wrist.
It wasn’t hard enough to hurt.
It was hard enough to tell me what he thought he could still do.
Arthur looked down at his hand.
“Let her go.”
Brett released me.
At the coat check, my phone began buzzing.
Our company banking app.
Access denied.
Then another notification.
My business email had been disabled.
Lena hurried after us.
“Don’t go home yet.”
“Why?”
She held up her phone.
Brett had sent a message to the executive group.
Effective immediately, Audrey Finch is no longer authorized to enter any company property.
May you like
Underneath, he had added:
Do not release records to her.
