Chapter 8 - THE BOARDROOM WITHOUT NATHAN
Grant Meridian’s board met that afternoon.
Nathan expected me not to attend.
I was not a director.
But Hartwell held observer rights under the debt agreement.
So I entered with Margaret Shaw.
Nathan stared.
“You’re seriously doing this?”
Margaret answered.
“Yes.”
He ignored her.
His eyes stayed on me.
“Evelyn.”
I sat.
“Chairman.”
The title irritated him.
Good.
The board opened with liquidity.
Then Westbridge.
Then personal guarantees.
Nathan argued the transfers were temporary.
Martin produced schedules.
Not temporary.
Nathan argued directors were informed.
Three denied it.
One admitted receiving only summary figures.
Then an independent director named Susan Bell asked.
“Why was Voss Strategic used?”
Nathan sighed.
“Tax efficiency.”
“Whose?”
Silence.
Susan continued.
“Grant Meridian’s?”
“No.”
“Nathan’s?”
He became angry.
“This is an ambush.”
I did not speak.
That was important.
Nathan kept looking at me anyway.
Every question felt like mine because he had trained himself to believe no one else could independently doubt him.
Susan asked.
“Did you use company funds to satisfy personal guarantees?”
Nathan answered.
“The guarantees supported company activities.”
Martin said.
“Not all of them.”
Nathan turned.
“Careful.”
Susan’s expression changed.
“Was that a threat?”
Nathan laughed.
“No.”
Martin looked at the board.
“One guarantee covered a private development in Aspen.”
The room went still.
Grant Meridian had no Aspen project.
Nathan did.
Personally.
Through another entity.
Susan asked.
“How much?”
“Four point two million.”
Nathan stood.
“Meeting adjourned.”
Susan answered.
“No.”
Nathan stared.
“I’m CEO.”
“And I’m lead independent director.”
She looked around the table.
“I move we continue.”
Seconded.
Passed.
Nathan slowly sat.
For perhaps the first time in his professional life, he had been told no inside his own boardroom.
Then the general counsel entered.
She looked pale.
“We have received a preservation request.”
Nathan’s face changed.
“From whom?”
“Federal regulators.”
Nobody spoke.
It was not a criminal charge.
Not yet.
A request tied to prior disclosure questions.
The federal inquiry Nathan once claimed was resolved had apparently reopened after new information from Westbridge.
He looked at Martin.
Then me.
“Who did this?”
Nobody answered.
The general counsel said.
“Regulators do not disclose sources.”
Nathan’s gaze moved around the room.
Someone had talked.
Maybe Martin.
Maybe another executive.
Maybe no one.
That uncertainty frightened him more than certainty.
Then his phone buzzed.
He read the message.
His face drained.
Susan asked.
“What?”
Nathan said nothing.
Martin’s phone buzzed next.
Then Margaret’s.
News alert.
GRANT MERIDIAN LENDER ISSUES DEFAULT NOTICE AFTER FINANCING FREEZE.
May you like
The thirteen-day clock had disappeared.
Nathan now had forty-eight hours.
