Take 40. I have a call with my attorneys at 8:30. He did the morning checks in 25. He wasn't rushing. He was precise. but he was efficient in a way that had a different energy behind it than usual and he knew it.
He went upstairs. Clare opened the door without being asked. Victoria was off the phone. She looked like she had slept approximately 4 hours, which he suspected was two more than he had managed. She had a coffee in one hand and a legal pad covered in her handwriting in the other.
And she looked up when he came in with the expression of someone who has been thinking hard and has reached the part where thinking alone is no longer sufficient. Sit down, she said. This time he sat. She set the legal pad on the desk and looked at him directly. Last night, Hawthorne proposed an amended merger structure to the board.
Under the new terms, Langford Properties would become a wholly owned subsidiary within 18 months. My role would transition to a senior advisory position, which is corporate language for a title without authority. He's trying to buy the company and remove you from it simultaneously. Marcus said, "Yes, and three board members were prepared to approve it last night." She paused.
Adrienne Parked the vote. She called for a 7-day review period, which buys me until the announcement event. After that, the board reconvenes. So, the announcement event is no longer just an announcement. It never was, she said.
Hawthorne wants to use it to generate momentum, a public proposal, positive media coverage, a narrative of partnership and strength. It creates social and professional pressure that makes it significantly harder for the board to vote against the merger afterward. The optics of rejecting a deal that the media is calling a love story are. She stopped. Something moved in her face.
They're difficult. Marcus was quiet for a moment. He was thinking clearly. He was also thinking about the other conversation, the one they had started yesterday and not finished. The one that was still in the room with them, the one that had two words still sitting in it.
He made a decision the same way he made decisions about difficult maintenance problems. Identify the most important thing first address that then move to the secondary concerns. What do you want to do? He asked. Not what the board wants, not what's strategically optimal.
What do you want? She looked at him. I want my company, she said. On my terms without Richard Hawthorne's name attached to it in any capacity. She set her coffee down.
I've been building toward a different capital partner for 3 months quietly. There's a group smaller than Hawthorne, not as flashy, but their values align with where I want to take this company long-term, and they don't need to own the operation to achieve their return. I've been moving slowly because I didn't want to tip my hand to the board before I had solid terms." Marcus frowned. "How solid are the terms now?