Chapter 12 - THE PERSON INSIDE
The insider was my chief financial officer.
Ethan Cole.
My friend for nine years.
He had helped me survive our first audit, our first acquisition, and the year we nearly ran out of cash.
I trusted him with everything financial.
That trust had become the weapon.
Ethan approved several of Derek's invoices after Bradley submitted them.
He also gave Bradley internal forecasts he was not authorized to distribute.
When confronted, Ethan claimed he thought the resort deal was a legitimate company opportunity.
Serena asked why he hid the payments in unrelated cost centers.
He stopped talking.
By noon, Ethan had outside counsel.
By three, he had resigned.
By five, his attorney asked whether the company would consider cooperation.
I sat in my office after everyone left.
For the first time since the pool, I felt tired enough to break.
Bradley was my husband.
Ethan was my friend.
Two people I had invited closest to the company had treated it like an unlocked house.
Serena sat across from me.
"Go home."
"Which one?"
She understood.
Our primary house was still legally mine through my trust, but Bradley was staying there under temporary arrangements while divorce counsel worked out access.
I did not want to see him.
So I went to my old condo.
The one I bought before Bennett Mobility existed.
I slept on a mattress without sheets because the place had been used mostly for storage.
At 2:13 a.m., my phone rang.
Ethan.
I almost ignored it.
Then I answered.
"Maddie, I am sorry."
I said nothing.
"Bradley told me you were going to sell the company. He said the board was cutting him out."
"So you helped him steal?"
"I thought I was protecting my position."
"By betraying mine."
He started crying.
I felt nothing.
Then he said, "There is something you need to know about Barbara."
I sat up.
"What?"
"The resort was never the real goal."
"Then what was?"
"The guarantee was supposed to fail."
May you like
My hand tightened around the phone.
Ethan whispered, "They wanted the lender to sue Bennett Mobility."
