Chapter 14 - Forty-Eight Hours
Rook Capital wanted to purchase Wardbridge's debt at a discount, then use that position to take control of the company. Their proposal included layoffs and a sale of the hospital logistics division.
I read the term sheet twice. “They're buying a fire they helped start.”
“We still have to prove who started it,” Ruth reminded me.
The board spent the next day listening to competing proposals. Jonah brought payroll forecasts. Lila brought a list of hospitals that would lose service if the distribution project stopped. The independent directors questioned everyone, including me.
“Why should we trust another financing arrangement connected to you?” one asked.
“You shouldn't trust it blindly,” I said. “Get independent pricing. Publish the conditions to the board. Give another investor the same chance to bid. If my offer isn't fair, reject it.”
There was a pause. Then the chair nodded.
By midnight, a regional lender agreed to lead an emergency bridge facility with my assets as limited collateral. The interest rate wasn't cheap. Neither was doing nothing. An independent committee recommended approval, conditioned on tight oversight and restrictions on related-party payments.
Jonah called the warehouse supervisors himself. The next delivery run would leave on schedule.
I should have felt triumphant. Instead I felt old.
At two in the morning, Everett sent a photograph from the gala. It showed the ring beside my shoe, frozen in a circle of bright marble.
His message read: I never thought you would turn on me.
I typed a reply, deleted it, then wrote: You turned on me when you decided humiliation was easier than honesty.
Before I could set the phone down, Ruth called again.
“Someone inside the company has signed an agreement to hand the Swiss subsidiary's assets to Rook at the deadline.”
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“Who signed it?”
“Everett. Yesterday.”
