Braden laughs and looks at me. I stare back, unblinking. “Don’t you mean thirty percent each?” he asks. But he must already know what’s happening, because he grabs the contract off the table. “Why isn’t my name on this?” He holds up the paper, crumpling it with his grip.

“Because...” Professor Thomas reaches into his drawer and pulls out another piece of paper. “You will sign this and surrender your shares in the company for a payment of ten thousand dollars.”

Braden scoffs. “Why in God’s name would I do that?”

“Because if you don’t,” I jump in, quoting Professor Thomas’s wording from our previous conversation, “Then Robbie and I will sue you.”

“For what?” he says. But his tone sounds more like he is saying screw you.

“Breach of fiduciary duty,” I say. “For when you knowingly went against expert advice and pitched to Michael Williams when you knew it would likely be detrimental to your company and the holdings of your partners.”

“And then you lied to us,” Robbie says. “Which also opens you up to charges of fraud.”

“And before you use your trust fund to assemble the best team of lawyers you can afford,” Professor Thomas says, “remember that my net worth is double your father’s, and that I will be paying all of Sara’s and Roberto’s legal fees.”

Braden suddenly looks small in his chair, his shoulders slumping and body folding in.

“So I suggest you take your ten grand now and get out. Before I take much more from you. Including your reputation in this industry.” He places a contract in front of Braden. “You burned an awfully important bridge earlier this year, and I’m willing to forgive and forget. But not if you stand in the way of me acquiring this company, and taking it in the direction I want, which does not include you. If you don’t, then you’ll know what it’s like to have me as an enemy, and I’ll wish you luck trying to find work in this town.”

Braden and Professor Thomas stare each other down. I hold my breath. My heart pounds against my chest.

Braden exhales, a low rumble from his chest. “Do you have a pen?” he asks.

Yes! My heart soars. Suddenly I feel more awake, like someone shot adrenaline straight into my heart. It’s all I can do to not stand up and happy dance.

Braden signs the paper in an aggressive scrawl as Professor Thomas cuts him a check. He leaves the room without even glancing at Robbie or me.

“All right.” Professor Thomas places Braden’s contract in a drawer and shuts it with a snap. “Let’s get down to business.”

Chapter Forty-One

Roberto