Sloane’s mouth curved into a faint smile.
“She is being offered an extraordinarily generous arrangement,” she added. “Most dependent spouses would be grateful.”
The phrase landed exactly as she intended. Dependent spouse. Not engineer. Not designer. Not investor. Not co-founder. Not the woman who had paid the first salaries when Adrian’s bank account held less than six hundred dollars.
I closed the agreement.
“I won’t sign this.”
Adrian’s expression hardened. “Then you leave us no choice but to defend the company against a baseless claim.”
Before I could answer, Gabriel Voss cleared his throat.
The independent audit had been commissioned by the European group considering Helixora’s acquisition. Gabriel’s firm had spent twelve weeks examining corporate records, ownership history, patent assignments, executive compensation, and related-party transactions. Until that moment, he had said almost nothing.
“Mr. Whitmore,” he began, “before anyone signs a historical ownership waiver, the audit team needs clarification regarding Helixora’s first operating account.”
Adrian did not look concerned. “What clarification?”
