Chapter 6 - WHY ANDREW
Andrew Collins was Linda’s sister’s son.
He grew up in Chicago.
Finance degree.
MBA.
Worked four years in corporate strategy.
Linda began bringing him to Bennett Millworks meetings eighteen months earlier.
She called it succession exposure.
Claire called it grooming.
Andrew said:
“I didn’t ask to replace you.”
Claire believed him.
Mostly.
Then she found an email.
LINDA TO ANDREW:
Martin always wanted a Bennett man at the top.
ANDREW:
But my last name is Collins.
LINDA:
Blood matters more than name.
Andrew replied:
Claire is blood.
Linda:
Different role.
Claire stared.
Andrew had not pushed back again.
Why?
Because Linda offered him a future:
president,
equity,
status.
Andrew told Claire:
“I thought she knew something I didn’t.”
“You never asked me?”
“I thought that would be insulting.”
“It was.”
Andrew accepted that.
He was not the architect of the lie.
He benefited from it.
That mattered.
Andrew’s financing plan for a future equity purchase also showed how far Linda had gone.
She had introduced him to Community Heritage Bank.
The bank prepared a preliminary structure allowing Andrew to borrow up to:
$1.6 million
to buy future shares if Linda chose to sell or transfer some of her stake.
Collateral:
acquired shares,
personal guaranty,
and future distributions.
No transaction had occurred.
No secret theft.
Still, Linda had spent months building a succession path around Andrew before the board ever evaluated Claire.
Andrew said:
“She told me you didn’t want control.”
Claire laughed.
“I wanted enough control to stop being overruled because I’m female.”
“I know that now.”
He looked embarrassed.
“I should have asked.”
“Yes.”
The family’s problem kept returning to the same absence.
May you like
Everyone had a theory about Claire.
Few asked Claire.
