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And now it’s gone.
“What?!” I scream into the phone. “Beth, you can’t—”
“I…can, actually,” she exhales heavily. “Look, Dahlia, I’m so,sosorry to be the one telling you this. And I’m truly sorry it played out this way.”
“You can’t!!” I scream again, startling passing pedestrians.
“Dahlia, hon, listen to me, Ican. I’m the CEO, or at least Iwasthe CEO, and with everything going on with your stepfather, I’m afraid I have to think long-term strategy. Not to mention what’s best for everyone involved with the company. I know how much the foundation means to you and your mother—believe me, I know. It’s why I took this job, because I believe in the mission. But this isn’t a foundation that pays for its own operations, Dahlia. It relies one hundred percent on revenue from your mother’s other assets, investments, and holding companies. Without that, you’d lose the foundation anyway. And soon.”
I squeeze my eyes shut as I lean against the building behind me.
Fuck.
“The offer came through a few weeks ago. I ignored it, because that wasn’t an option for us at the time. But then things progressed with Gerard’s legal motions, and it became clear exactly how quickly the foundation would run out of cash. Then that same party upped their buyout offer, and I’ve accepted.”
“Beth…”
“It was a huge offer, Dahlia. Thirty million.”
My eyes start from my head.What?
“After the shareholders get their cut, and after the employee severance packages—”
I wince. The foundation employs over fifty people.Fiftypeople who are now out of work.
“And the C-level exits—”
I bark a laugh. C-level exits, as in a nice way of saying massive payouts for the company executive team.
“So, you’ve sewn yourself a nice little golden fucking parachute, I assume?” I snap.
She sighs heavily. “After all of that, there’s still twelve million left for you and your mom. Look, I understand it’s not enough to give you the same lifestyle you enjoyed after your mother received Nasser El-Sayed’s fortune—”
“Don’t you dare utter that prick’s name.”
She takes a beat. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. Look, Dahlia, it’s stilltwelvemillion dollars. That’s a very, very good life.”
“And how big a check did you cut yourself, Beth?” I snap, shaking with anger. “Enough for another beach house in—”
“The terms of my exit package are actually legally defined, Dahlia, and beyond my control. But even so, I redistributed my payout to the other exiting employees.”
Oh.
Now I feel like a little shit. I bite my lip.
“I’mnotthe enemy here, Dahlia,” Bethany exhales, her voice strained and weary.
“Well, who is, then?” I mutter. “Who the fuck would pay thirty million for an foundation that doesn’t even make enough to support itself?”
“I’ve never heard of them. But they’re a Canadian company, with a new office in New York—”
“Who—”
“—called Laconia Logistics.”
Everything goes still. My pulse throbs in my temples as I slowly turn my head, swiveling my gaze to the discreet brass plate at the entryway to the very building I’m leaning against. The one listing all the current business tenants.
An accounting firm. An allergist’s office. A graphic design company, a political strategy consultant, an advertising agency…
