Chapter 3
Adelaide refused to leave the estate.
Genevieve wanted her recovering upstairs.
Adelaide wanted coffee.
They compromised by having coffee upstairs.
“I should have listened to you,” Genevieve said.
Adelaide held the cup with her uninjured hand.
“Yes.”
Genevieve looked at her.
Her mother shrugged.
“You’re thirty-eight. I’m too old to pretend every mistake needs comforting.”
That sounded like Adelaide.
Genevieve almost smiled.
“What exactly did Derek ask you to sign?”
“First, the cross-guarantee.”
“And after you refused?”
“A family transition acknowledgment.”
Genevieve frowned.
“What is that?”
“I asked the same question.”
Adelaide explained.
Lucille visited her privately three weeks earlier.
She said marriage would change how the two families handled business.
The Bellomos were supposedly too centralized around Genevieve and Adelaide.
The Callahans preferred “shared family governance.”
“I told her I wasn’t sharing governance with anybody whose last name wasn’t already on my stock certificate.”
Genevieve looked down.
“That went well?”
“She stopped bringing good pastries.”
Then Adelaide’s expression became serious.
Lucille later suggested Adelaide might enjoy spending more time at the Bellomos’ Florida residence.
Year-round staff.
Warm weather.
Less pressure.
A monthly household allowance would be arranged.
Genevieve’s face hardened.
“She tried to buy you out?”
“She never used those words.”
“She didn’t need to.”
That was the first clue that the Callahans understood exactly how much Adelaide’s vote mattered.
Adelaide continued.
“Derek came after that.”
“He spoke to you privately?”
“Twice.”
“What did he say?”
“That I was making your marriage harder.”
Genevieve’s eyes narrowed.
“He said the guarantee was temporary. Callahan Infrastructure had a large project completing soon. Their debt would be refinanced afterward.”
“Did he show you the debt?”
“No.”
“Did he show you the project?”
“No.”
“So you refused.”
Adelaide looked offended.
“I’m old, Genevieve. I’m not stupid.”
Genevieve reached across the table.
For a moment, neither woman spoke.
Then Adelaide pulled her hand back.
“Don’t become sentimental now.”
“Mom.”
“You need facts.”
She was right.
Genevieve called Claire.
“Find out exactly what Callahan Infrastructure needs Bellomo assets to guarantee.”
Then she called her CFO.
“And I want every communication between Callahan people and our banks for the last year.”
Within hours, the first responses arrived.
Derek had been introducing himself to Bellomo lenders as “incoming family leadership.”
Lucille had used almost identical language with two private banks.
Genevieve read one email twice.
After the wedding, the Bellomo and Callahan families will operate with a more unified capital structure.
Genevieve had never agreed to a unified capital structure.
She looked toward the closed bedroom door where Adelaide was resting.
May you like
Someone had been promising away authority Genevieve never gave.
And somebody had known her mother could stop it.
