Chapter 6 - The Sinking Ship
By December, Daniel’s construction business was in a death spiral.
Without me managing the cash flow, juggling the invoices, and maintaining the vendor relationships, the company ground to a halt.
Subcontractors refused to work without upfront payments.
Clients began pulling their contracts because Daniel was missing deadlines, too distracted by the divorce and the lack of funds to manage the job sites properly.
Natalie, predictably, vanished.
When Tanya subpoenaed her regarding the $32,000, she immediately hired her own lawyer and claimed Daniel had misled her about the source of the funds. She agreed to return whatever she hadn't spent just to avoid being named in a civil suit.
She completely cut contact with Daniel.
He was entirely alone.
One rainy Tuesday afternoon, I agreed to a mediation session at Tanya’s office.
Daniel sat across from me. He had lost weight. He looked exhausted, the dark circles under his eyes prominent against his pale skin.
“Claire,” he said softly before the lawyers even began. “I’m sorry. I am so, so sorry.”
I looked at him, feeling nothing. No anger, no sadness. Just absolute indifference.
“I lost everything,” he continued, his voice breaking. “Natalie left me. The business is failing. My mom won't stop crying. I made the biggest mistake of my life.”
“You didn't make a mistake, Daniel. You made a choice.”
Tanya intervened, sliding a settlement agreement across the table.
“My client is offering a final settlement. We have independently valued the company based on its assets prior to Mr. Vance’s financial mismanagement.”
Daniel’s lawyer looked over the document and sighed heavily.
“Daniel, this is… aggressive.”
Daniel looked at the paper.
“You want me to buy you out for half a million dollars? I don't have that kind of money!”
“Then you will liquidate the company's assets, sell the heavy machinery, and pay her from the proceeds,” Tanya stated coldly. “Furthermore, Mrs. Vance retains 100% equity in the marital home, as you attempted to leverage it fraudulently.”
“If I sell the machinery, I have no business left,” Daniel whispered, staring at me.
“You had no business without me anyway, Daniel,” I said calmly. “You were just the face. I was the spine. And you decided you didn't need a spine.”
Daniel buried his face in his hands.
His lawyer leaned over. “Take the deal, Daniel. If we go to trial with the embezzlement evidence, you could face criminal charges. She’s letting you walk away with your freedom.”
Slowly, with a trembling hand, Daniel picked up the pen.
He signed his name, transferring everything we had built together over to me.
When he looked up, there were tears in his eyes.
“Are you happy now, Claire?”
May you like
I packed the signed document into my blue folder and stood up.
“I haven't been this happy in twelve years.”
