“Thank you for coming,” I said. “I’ll be direct. I’m not selling.”
Scott folded his hands. “You turned down nine point four million. We can renegotiate the price.”
“It isn’t about the price. The land is not for sale. Not one lot. Not one acre. Not at any price.”
“Then why are we here?”
“Because I have an alternative proposal.”
I slid the documents across the table.
“Long-term lease. Sixty years, with a review clause every decade. Lake View receives the right to use all seven parcels. I retain full ownership of the land.”
The white-haired man read every page without changing expression. Finally, he looked up.
“This is highly unusual.”
“My grandfather was an unusual man.”
“Investors prefer outright acquisition,” he said. “A lease creates complexity.”
“Complexity for you,” I said. “Security for me.”
He studied me. “You understand that if you refuse to sell and we don’t accept the lease, the project can move elsewhere.”
“With all due respect,” I said, “you have forty-eight million dollars invested in land on the west and south shores that only has value if the project happens here. You’re not going anywhere else. You can’t. Everybody at this table knows it.”
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then, to my surprise, the white-haired man laughed. Not mockingly. Honestly.
“Your grandfather knew how to pick his heirs,” he said.
At that exact moment, the office door opened.
Everyone turned.
Brandon walked in.
Dark blue suit. Perfect tie. The same posture he used to wear when he wanted a room to underestimate him. But I saw his eyes first. Quick. Nervous. Scanning.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said, as if he had every right to be there.
Thomas stood up. “You were not called to this meeting.”
“I’m a director at Mercer Capital,” Brandon said. “I have every right.”
I looked directly at him.
“You’re my ex-husband,” I said. “And you tried to challenge the trust that protects this land. That gives you exactly zero right to sit at this table.”
The room went still.
Brandon opened his mouth.
“Claire—”
“Scott can represent Mercer,” I said. “You can leave.”
Scott looked at the white-haired man. The white-haired man looked at Brandon and made the smallest gesture, barely a movement at all.
He shook his head.
Brandon stood frozen for three seconds.
Then he turned and walked out.
