Chapter 10 - Chief Executive
The draft merger presentation gave Ethan what ambition had whispered for years.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
ETHAN CARTER
CHAIRMAN
GEORGE MITCHELL
VICE CHAIR EMERITA
ELEANOR CARTER
I laughed when I saw.
“Emerita?”
Martha smiled.
“At least they kept you.”
Ethan did not.
“This is what Colin meant.”
Yes.
Ethan had been senior executive but not CEO.
Our current CEO, Richard Hall, was fifty eight and expected another four to six years.
Ethan could become successor.
Maybe.
No guarantee.
George offered certainty.
Then compensation.
Ethan’s post merger package larger.
Vanessa’s incentive.
Colin COO.
George chair.
Redwood investors receive premium equity.
Carter Meridian shareholders take risk.
It was cleverly tailored to everyone’s ego.
Except mine.
I got honorary title.
Then valuation.
Redwood portfolio appraisal had been massaged.
Not fabricated whole.
But optimistic.
Several properties carried deferred maintenance and occupancy issues.
Related party management fees inflated earnings presentation.
Carter assets stronger.
Independent bankers estimated George’s proposed exchange ratio overvalued Redwood by 28 to 35%.
Huge.
Then George’s internal email:
Need EC emotionally committed before independent fairness opinion.
EC Ethan Carter.
How?
CEO title.
Then:
Vanessa can land him.
There.
Ethan put document down.
“I hate him.”
I said nothing.
Then:
“Do you?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know him enough.”
He laughed bitterly.
Then:
“Do you hate Vanessa?”
“No.”
“Still?”
“Yes.”
He paced.
“I feel like you’re trying to be morally superior.”
“No.”
“Then be angry.”
“I am furious.”
He stopped.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Why don’t you show?”
“Because anger is expensive in boardrooms.”
He smiled despite.
Then:
“And because I already screamed alone in hotel room.”
That surprised.
I had.
After showering mud away.
Seeing bruised knee.
Listening to recording.
I screamed into pillow.
Composure is not absence.
Then Ethan asked:
“Would you have blocked merger if price fair?”
“Not automatically.”
He stared.
“If Redwood assets were good, conflicts disclosed, process independent, and shareholders benefited, I would consider.”
“But George wanted take control.”
“Control is not evil if bought fairly and approved.”
He rolled eyes.
“Investor answer.”
“Yes.”
Then:
“Marriage part?”
“That is what makes it personal and governance problem.”
Then board hired independent bank.
No merger.
George’s proposal dead after conflicts.
Redwood still held debt positions.
They began selling some because market no longer strategic.
Carter Meridian bought a portion at market discount through approved process.
Not punitive.
Then regulators/prosecutors.
Colin’s cooperation yielded emails showing George deliberately concealed beneficial ownership from lender to avoid competitor consent clause.
He had certified:
No affiliated party with competitive interest holds aggregate beneficial ownership above threshold.
But through entities he exceeded.
That was a false representation.
Was it material? Lender said yes.
Then $40k payment to Colin.
Commercial bribery/fraud.
Then valuation materials sent interstate investors with omitted related fees.
Potential wire fraud.
Federal investigators joined.
George eventually indicted on conspiracy to commit wire fraud, commercial bribery-related charges, and false statements tied financing. Exact labels in fiction.
Colin charged lesser conspiracy and unlawful receipt/conflict payments.
No attempted theft of entire company.
Vanessa was not criminally charged in takeover scheme initially.
Why?
Evidence showed she knew and assisted access, but prosecutors could not prove she joined financial fraud beyond reasonable doubt.
Civil exposure remained.
Good.
Then George pleaded not guilty.
Patricia filed divorce.
Vanessa moved from family home.
Her events business lost backing because George froze funds amid litigation.
She blamed me publicly once:
“Eleanor Carter destroyed my career.”
I did not respond.
Then Ethan read.
“Do you want me to defend you?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because adults can dislike me.”
He laughed.
Then:
“You really enjoy control.”
“I enjoy not being controlled by comments.”
He nodded.
Then private.
Vanessa sent Ethan a letter.
Not about reconciliation.
She wrote:
I knew my father wanted your support. I did not understand how far he had gone with Colin until after engagement.
Then:
I knew the partnership mattered more than I told you.
Then:
I wanted you to sign because I thought if you and Dad were aligned, our marriage would be easier.
That was rationalization.
Then:
I also wanted the incentive money.
There.
Then:
I loved you and wanted money and wanted my father’s approval at the same time.
People can contain multiple motives.
Ethan cried reading.
Then:
The worst thing I did was not the partnership. It was what I did to your mother before I knew who she was.
Interesting.
She understood.
Then:
I keep thinking if she had really been homeless, I would never have been forced to see myself afterward.
That line.
Ethan handed letter to me only with Vanessa’s permission? She addressed him, personal. He chose not to share maybe. But for story, he summarized. Fine.
Then he asked:
“Should I answer?”
“Your choice.”
“What would you?”
“Probably not yet.”
He waited six months.
Then replied one sentence:
I believe you loved me. I also believe you used me. I need both to stay true.
May you like
No more.
Continue to the next part: Vanessa’s apology changed Ethan, but George’s trial forced her to decide whether she would protect her father or finally tell the court what he had asked her to do before the wedding.
