Chapter 10 - The OfferAdrian called Marcus the following afternoon.
Marcus almost ignored it.
Lena had advised limiting direct communication.
But she had also said that if Adrian voluntarily discussed business, Marcus could listen, take notes and avoid making accusations.
Marcus answered.
“What?”
Adrian laughed softly.
“You always were warm.”
“Why are you calling?”
“I hear you've got lawyers involved.”
Marcus looked at Rachel, who stood nearby.
“Who told you?”
“I have eyes.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning Hawthorne isn't worth turning the family into enemies.”
Marcus almost replied that Adrian had done that himself.
He stopped.
“What do you want?”
“To solve the problem.”
“What problem?”
“Our ownership.”
Marcus sat.
Adrian continued.
“You've wanted me out for years.”
“I've never said that.”
“You don't have to.”
“How much?”
Adrian paused.
“Forty-five thousand.”
Marcus frowned.
“For what?”
“My interest in Hawthorne and the garage.”
Marcus nearly laughed.
The combined equity in Adrian's share was worth far more.
“You're offering to sell both for forty-five?”
“Clean break.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm tired.”
“You've spent fifteen years accusing me of controlling those properties.”
“Maybe I'm finally agreeing with you.”
Marcus wrote the number on a pad.
“Send the offer through Lena.”
Silence.
“You don't need an attorney for everything.”
“I do now.”
Adrian's voice cooled.
“Jordan tell you that?”
Marcus's grip tightened on the pen.
“Leave my son out of this.”
“He inserted himself.”
“No. You inserted him.”
Adrian sighed.
“Marcus, the boy wanted cash. I gave him errands. Don't rewrite him as some victim because it helps you hate me.”
Rachel's eyes flashed.
Marcus's voice dropped.
“He's sixteen.”
“He's not stupid.”
“No. He trusted his uncle.”
“That was his choice.”
The sentence did something permanent.
Marcus realized Adrian did not feel guilty for involving Jordan.
He felt inconvenienced that Jordan had stopped cooperating.
Marcus ended the call.
Rachel whispered, “Forty-five thousand?”
“Way below value.”
“He wants cash quickly.”
“Or he wants us to sign something before the bank investigation reaches him.”
Lena received the offer by email two hours later.
It was worse than Marcus expected.
Adrian proposed transferring his membership interests in exchange for $45,000 and a broad release of “all financial claims, known or unknown, arising from prior management activity.”
Rachel read the clause twice.
“He wants you to waive whatever he stole.”
“Allegedly stole.”
She gave Marcus a look.
“Lena is rubbing off on you.”
They rejected the offer.
That evening Jordan sat at the patio table doing homework.
He had started sitting outside intentionally.
Same place.
Same metal ashtray.
Marcus had removed it after the confrontation, but Jordan asked him to put it back.
“Why?” Marcus had asked.
“So I remember.”
Marcus did.
Jordan stared at chemistry problems until Rachel came outside.
She sat across from him.
“How are cravings?”
“Bad.”
“Today?”
“Three times.”
“You smoke?”
“No.”
She smiled faintly.
“Good.”
Jordan looked toward the yard.
“Dad hates me.”
Rachel's expression changed.
“No.”
“He barely talks to me.”
“He is trying not to say things while he's angry.”
“That's somehow worse.”
Rachel leaned forward.
“Your father is angry at Adrian. He's hurt by your lies. Those are not the same thing as hating you.”
Jordan picked at the edge of his notebook.
“I kept the envelope from him.”
“Yes.”
“I helped Adrian.”
“Yes.”
“I took money.”
“Yes.”
Jordan looked up, almost offended.
“You could soften it.”
“I could. But then you'd think love requires pretending you didn't do anything wrong.”
He stared at her.
Rachel continued.
“We love you enough to tell you exactly what you did wrong and still be here.”
Jordan blinked quickly.
“That's annoying.”
“I know.”
He smiled despite himself.
Inside, Marcus's phone rang.
It was the bank's business-security investigator.
Marcus answered.
The investigator confirmed that the refinance application included a scanned member authorization bearing Marcus's signature.
Marcus denied signing it.
Then came another detail.
The upload metadata showed the document had been submitted from an IP address associated with a home internet account.
Marcus asked whose.
The investigator could not disclose subscriber details without appropriate process.
But the application file contained a contact email.
It did not belong to Adrian.
It belonged to an entity named Northline Property Services.
Rachel searched the email domain.
A registration record surfaced.
Northline's mailing address was not Adrian's home.
It was a condominium across town.
The registered occupant had a name Marcus knew.
He stared at the screen.
“Who?” Rachel asked.
Marcus whispered:
“Evelyn Price.”
Rachel frowned.
“The notary?”
Marcus nodded.
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