Chapter 5 - The Billion-Dollar Choice
Thomas Bennett arrived at the hotel at ten thirty.
He looked like a man who had aged five years overnight.
Maya hugged him.
Mason remained across the room.
Professional.
Distant.
Exactly as Maya had asked.
Thomas studied the documents Elias had found.
“I remember this company.”
He pointed toward the holding corporation.
“My brother and I invested thirty thousand dollars in 1998.”
Maya stared.
“Thirty thousand became land worth millions?”
“Apparently.”
Mason corrected gently.
“Potentially much more.”
Thomas looked at him.
“How much?”
Mason hesitated.
“Depending on development approvals, between forty and sixty million.”
Thomas nearly dropped the papers.
Maya sat beside him.
Victor’s strategy suddenly became obvious.
If Thomas signed away his interest without understanding its value, Victor could control the land.
And if Victor controlled the land, he could block Mason’s planned port development.
“What are you going to do?” Maya asked Mason.
He looked at Thomas.
“Withdraw.”
Maya frowned.
“From what?”
“My acquisition.”
Silence.
Thomas looked confused.
“You wanted this land?”
“Yes.”
“How badly?”
Mason’s voice remained calm.
“Very.”
“How much is your project worth?”
Mason didn’t answer immediately.
Elias did.
“Approximately 1.2 billion dollars over ten years.”
Maya stared at Mason.
“You’re walking away from a billion-dollar project?”
“If my participation gives Victor a reason to target your family, yes.”
Thomas stood.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I do.”
“No,” Maya said.
Both men looked at her.
“You don’t.”
Mason’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Maya.”
“This is exactly what Victor wants.”
“He wants the property.”
“No. He wants control.”
She stood.
“And everybody keeps giving it to him.”
Thomas stared at his daughter.
Maya continued.
“He scared Dad into almost signing something. He scared me out of my apartment. Now he’s scaring you away from a billion-dollar deal.”
Mason studied her.
“What are you suggesting?”
“That we stop being scared.”
A faint expression appeared on Elias’s face.
Approval.
Mason did not look convinced.
“This isn’t a game.”
“I know.”
“Victor has spent decades manipulating people.”
“Then maybe he’s overdue for someone to say no.”
Mason stared at her.
Thomas slowly smiled.
“That sounds like your grandmother.”
Maya looked at her father.
“What do you want to do?”
Thomas examined the documents again.
“I want to understand what I own.”
“Good.”
“And then?”
Maya looked at Mason.
“Then we negotiate.”
Mason almost smiled.
“You want to negotiate with me?”
“You said the land is worth up to sixty million.”
“Yes.”
“My father gets an independent lawyer.”
“Agreed.”
“Independent appraisal.”
“Agreed.”
“No pressure.”
“Agreed.”
“And no buying me a café.”
Mason blinked.
Thomas looked confused.
“What café?”
“Nothing.”
Mason’s mouth twitched.
For the first time since the wedding, Maya felt like herself again.
The next week became a storm of lawyers, appraisers, investigators, and documents.
Maya returned to work.
Against Mason’s preference.
“With security,” she insisted.
“With discreet security,” he countered.
They compromised.
Elias sat near the window pretending to read newspapers.
He was terrible at pretending.
Mason stopped coming.
That hurt more than Maya expected.
She had asked for distance.
He respected it.
She hated that too.
On Thursday afternoon, Aunt Judith entered the café.
Maya groaned.
“No.”
Judith sat at the counter.
“Coffee.”
“You hate coffee.”
“I need caffeine.”
Maya poured it.
Judith took one sip and grimaced.
“Still hate it.”
“Why are you here?”
Her aunt looked unusually uncomfortable.
“To apologize.”
Maya nearly dropped the pot.
“Should I call an ambulance?”
“Don’t ruin it.”
Judith sighed.
“I have spent years treating your life like entertainment.”
Maya said nothing.
“I thought I was helping.”
“You asked whether my biological clock had a snooze button.”
Judith winced.
“Yes. That was bad.”
“Very.”
“I’m sorry.”
Maya stared at her aunt.
Then smiled.
“Thank you.”
Judith nodded toward Mason’s empty corner table.
“And the handsome terrifying man?”
“Complicated.”
“Those are usually the interesting ones.”
“Aunt Judith.”
“I’m leaving.”
She slid from the stool.
At the door, she turned.
“For what it’s worth, he didn’t look at you like it was fake.”
Then she left.
Maya stared at the empty corner.
That evening, Mason finally returned.
Same table.
Same suit.
Same double espresso.
Maya walked over.
“You disappeared.”
“You requested distance.”
“I know.”
“I was respecting it.”
“I know.”
“Did I misunderstand?”
Maya sat opposite him.
“No.”
Mason waited.
She realized he wasn’t going to make this easy.
“Thank you.”
“For?”
“Walking away from the deal.”
“I haven’t.”
“What?”
“You told me not to.”
A smile tugged at her mouth.
“So you listened.”
“I occasionally do.”
“My father’s lawyer says your offer is fair.”
“It is.”
“He says it may actually be too generous.”
“It isn’t.”
“Mason.”
“The property is strategically valuable.”
She studied him.
“You didn’t inflate it because of me?”
“No.”
She believed him.
Again.
That was becoming dangerous.
Mason pushed his espresso aside.
“There’s something else.”
Maya’s smile disappeared.
“Victor?”
“Yes.”
“What now?”
“We have evidence that he attempted to obtain your father’s signature through fraudulent representations.”
“Enough?”
“For investigators to become very interested.”
“That sounds good.”
“It is.”
“But?”
“He knows.”
Maya’s stomach tightened.
“How?”
“We don’t know.”
Mason stood.
“Maya, I need you to leave with Elias.”
“When?”
“Now.”
Her pulse accelerated.
“Why?”
Mason looked toward the café windows.
A black sedan had stopped across the street.
Not one of his.
“He’s out of options.”
Maya stood.
“And desperate people become unpredictable.”
Elias moved toward them.
Mason reached for Maya’s hand.
It was the first time he had touched her since the wedding.
“Stay with me.”
She looked down at their joined hands.
Then up at him.
The fake relationship was long over.
This wasn’t acting anymore.
Outside, the sedan door opened.
And Victor Hale stepped onto the sidewalk.
Alone.
May you like
Holding a folder.
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