The Girl They Forgot to Love novel · Chapter 17 of 24

Chapter 17: Forty Million

Anthony's POV

On the sixtieth day, the lawyer put a court notice on my desk and did not tap it.

"Rowan's petition," he said. "A judge hears it the morning after the trust vests. He wants it frozen."

"On what grounds?"

"A conflict of interest. You're the trustee, and you hold the Brannigan loan."

He sat down.

"If Lizzie owns the majority, she can keep Rowan's debt where it is. Or you can call it and take the company apart, and she'll be the one who let you."

"I've never wanted the company."

"A judge doesn't care what you want. He cares what you can do."

I looked at the loan agreement on my shelf.

I had written the clause myself, six years ago, when Rowan was a young CEO with a shaky quarter.

Vanderveer Capital could call the whole loan if the company's control changed.

Under that sat a penalty rate, worth forty million dollars on paper if I chose to use it.

I had never planned to use it.

That didn't matter. The leverage was there, and it made everything I did for her look like a prize.

"There's one way to cure a conflict," the lawyer said.

"I know."

"It costs you forty million."

"I know what it costs."

The door opened before he could say anything else.

Rowan walked in without knocking, with two men behind him who stayed in the corridor.

"Anthony," he said pleasantly. "I thought I'd say this in person."

The lawyer rose. I told him to stay.

"Tonight the trust vests," Rowan said. "Tomorrow a judge reads that you're a lender with a stake. You can end this clean."

"How?"

"You tell the court she took my check. A small oversight. The trust fails, Pierce takes the blame for the paperwork, and nobody has to be the villain."

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