Chapter 6 - THE COMPANY WAS BLEEDING TOO
The patent fight distracted everyone from the company.
That was almost the point.
Ward Adaptive Systems’ CFO, Lena Ortiz, called Mara privately.
“We have a problem.”
“How bad?”
“Depends how much you like crimes.”
Mara almost smiled.
Not much.
Lena found $3.6 million in consulting payments over eighteen months.
Recipients:
Corven Advisory.
Hale Strategic Legal.
Northpath Commercial.
GR Market Access.
The invoices were tied to patent commercialization.
Some were legitimate.
Some were vague.
GR.
Grant Ward.
Hale.
Victor.
Mara stared at the pattern.
The money had not all gone into their pockets directly.
Some paid consultants.
Some funded lobbying.
Some funded market research.
Some funded valuation work.
But a portion circled back into entities linked to Grant and Victor.
Why?
Because they had been building an alternative commercialization path.
One in which Helixor acquired exclusive rights after Elias died.
The old contingent-succession draft was the foundation.
Grant assumed he would gain control.
Victor structured transactions around that assumption.
Corven Ridge financed them.
Then Elias changed the trust.
The entire private structure became worthless.
Unless Mara disappeared and someone could somehow revive the old path.
Legally, her death would not do that.
But Grant seemed to believe otherwise.
Why?
Because someone had told him.
May you like
Mara knew who.
Victor.
