Chapter 5 - The Hidden Buyer
No one spoke for several seconds.
Daniel was the first.
“What other buyer?”
Clara swallowed.
“A private group.”
Nathan stepped toward her.
“You have no idea what you are talking about.”
Clara backed away.
“You made me book the meetings.”
“You booked hundreds of meetings.”
“In Zurich?”
Nathan went still.
Evelyn caught it.
So did Daniel.
Clara continued.
“And Singapore.”
Nathan’s voice became dangerously calm.
“You signed a confidentiality agreement.”
Daniel almost smiled.
“Confidentiality agreements do not protect fraud.”
Clara looked at Evelyn.
“For months, Nathan has been meeting with a group called Northstar Pacific.”
Richard frowned.
“I know that name.”
Daniel did too.
“Offshore private equity.”
Clara nodded.
“They wanted Arden’s patents.”
Evelyn’s mind began assembling the pieces.
Arden Technologies owned several valuable energy-storage patents.
Grant Meridian was acquiring the company for nine hundred million dollars.
Hartwell’s capital made the transaction possible.
“What was Northstar offering Nathan?”
Clara looked ashamed.
“I do not know exactly.”
Nathan laughed.
“Because there was nothing.”
Clara ignored him.
“But he said if Grant Meridian acquired Arden first, certain assets could be transferred after closing.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“At below-market value?”
Clara nodded.
Nathan pointed at her.
“She is lying because she is angry.”
Clara’s cheek was still red.
Evelyn almost found the irony unbearable.
Nathan continued.
“She assaulted my wife.”
Evelyn raised one eyebrow.
Clara stared at him.
“You let me.”
“I did not tell you to slap anyone.”
“You told me she was nobody.”
The words landed harder than the slap.
Nathan turned toward Evelyn.
For a second, guilt appeared.
Then vanished.
Evelyn did not need an apology anymore.
She needed facts.
“Clara, did Nathan receive money from Northstar?”
“I never saw it directly.”
“Anything else?”
Clara hesitated.
“Yes.”
Nathan’s voice sharpened.
“Clara.”
She looked at him.
“You told me we would be together after Arden.”
Evelyn’s stomach tightened, but her face remained calm.
Several people at the table looked away.
Nathan scoffed.
“This is ridiculous.”
Clara’s eyes filled with rage.
“You said Evelyn would be gone.”
Nathan said nothing.
Evelyn finally asked.
“Gone how?”
Clara looked at her.
“I thought he meant divorced.”
The room became colder.
Evelyn stared at Nathan.
Nathan looked furious now.
Not embarrassed.
Not defensive.
Furious.
Daniel noticed too.
“Clara,” he said carefully.
“What exactly did Nathan say?”
Clara closed her eyes.
“He said after Arden closed, Evelyn would not be able to interfere anymore.”
Nathan laughed.
“That could mean anything.”
Evelyn nodded.
“It could.”
Then Daniel’s phone vibrated again.
He checked it.
This time he did not hide his reaction.
“What?”
Evelyn asked.
Daniel turned the phone toward her.
A corporate registration record had appeared.
Northstar Pacific’s controlling shareholder was hidden behind multiple entities.
But the final beneficiary had just been identified.
Evelyn read the name once.
Then again.
It was not Nathan.
It was not Clara.
May you like
It was her own cousin.
Jonathan Hartwell.
