Chapter 4 - RICHARD BENNETT
Richard Bennett arrived the next morning.
Seventy.
Retired chairman.
Ethan’s father.
He looked at Claire’s sling and sat down slowly.
“What did he do?”
Claire told him.
Richard closed his eyes.
Then:
“I’m sorry.”
She did not answer.
He continued:
“I’m sorry I put you in the middle of this company.”
Claire looked at him.
“You didn’t make him pick up a bat.”
“No.”
Good.
No shared blame where it did not belong.
Then Richard explained something Claire had not known.
Ethan had asked him six months earlier to remove Claire as special consent holder.
Richard refused.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I thought it would create conflict in your marriage.”
Claire laughed once.
Everyone loved protecting her from information.
Richard looked ashamed.
Ethan’s request said:
Claire’s personal relationship with management may create unnecessary friction in future financing.
Management.
Meaning Ethan.
Richard answered:
The friction is the protection.
Then Richard told Claire:
“Your authority was designed for exactly this situation.”
She frowned.
“Domestic violence?”
“No.”
“A CEO who sees consent as obstruction.”
That distinction mattered.
Then Claire asked:
“Did you know the company was this leveraged?”
Richard hesitated.
“Yes.”
“How worried are you?”
“More than Ethan thinks.”
Then he admitted another issue.
The Ohio acquisition included a side agreement with a supplier partly owned by Ethan’s college friend, Mark Ellison.
Legal.
Disclosed.
Board-approved.
But pricing had deteriorated.
Claire had seen the name.
Never focused on it.
Richard said:
“Ethan keeps defending that contract.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Claire looked at Daniel.
He already had the answer.
Or part of one.
The refinancing was not only about liquidity.
It would also pay off a short-term bridge facility coming due in six weeks.
The bridge lender had rights to inspect certain acquisition records.
Ethan wanted it gone before those rights became active.
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Claire’s signature was not just blocking money.
It was blocking speed.
