Chapter 13 - MICHAEL'S LAST ARGUMENT
Michael requested a private meeting with Claire.
Lawyers present.
He looked exhausted.
“Daniel started Briarstone.”
Claire said nothing.
“He introduced Evan.”
Still nothing.
“He signed the first inflated invoice.”
Claire answered:
“And?”
“You keep treating me like I was the mastermind.”
“I treat you like you were involved.”
“He was involved first.”
Claire leaned forward.
“He’s dead, Michael.”
“That doesn’t make him innocent.”
“I know.”
Michael stopped.
Claire continued:
“Do you know why blaming Daniel doesn’t work on me?”
He waited.
“Because I’m already making his estate repay what he took.”
Michael had no answer.
Claire placed Daniel’s letter on the table.
“He told me not to defend him.”
Michael read parts of it.
His face changed.
“He wrote this?”
“Yes.”
“He was going to turn us in.”
“He was going to self-report.”
Michael laughed once, bitterly.
“After taking the money.”
“Yes.”
“Convenient.”
“Yes.”
Claire agreed with everything that was true.
That left Michael fewer places to hide.
Then he said:
“I thought the company owed us.”
Claire asked:
“Then why didn’t you put the compensation through the board?”
“Because the employee trust would reject it.”
“So you knew the people whose money you were spending would say no.”
Michael looked away.
That was the core.
He believed the family deserved more.
Instead of persuading the owners, he created a side channel.
Entitlement disguised as compensation.
Michael’s settlement negotiation became difficult because he refused the first number.
The special committee demanded:
$812,000.
Lauren countered:
$402,000.
They argued over:
legitimate consulting compensation,
taxes already paid,
duplicate counting,
time-barred transactions,
company savings,
and whether certain advisory payments were actually outside employment.
Priya revised models three times.
Final disputed range narrowed to:
$650,000 to $735,000.
Michael offered $675,000.
The committee demanded $710,000.
They settled at:
$698,000.
Claire watched the number emerge and felt strangely unsatisfied.
For months, everything had been betrayal.
Now betrayal was:
$698,000.
Grace told her:
“Settlements are rarely emotionally accurate.”
Claire nodded.
May you like
They were legally useful.
That was enough.
