Chapter 9 - Dad Wanted Me to Convert Immediately
This was where Dad and I finally fought.
“I think you should exercise the conversion.”
“I haven’t decided.”
“You have four days.”
“I know.”
“Then decide.”
“No.”
He stared.
“Chloe, they lied to you.”
“Yes.”
“They attempted to strip your rights.”
“Yes.”
“Megan hit Lily.”
“Yes.”
“What are you waiting for?”
“Information.”
Dad paced his office.
“You sound like you’re protecting Mark.”
“I’m protecting myself from making a million-dollar decision because I’m angry.”
That stopped him.
Then he said:
“You have the right.”
“I know.”
“You should use it.”
“Why?”
“Because they need someone in that company who will stop this.”
I laughed.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“You want me to fix Peterson.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Dad had spent his career acquiring companies.
He saw broken governance and immediately imagined restructuring.
He saw my conversion right as leverage.
Maybe good leverage.
Still leverage.
“Do you want Peterson Home Systems?”
“No.”
“Would Whitmore invest?”
He hesitated.
There.
“Dad.”
“If you converted and later wanted liquidity, Whitmore could purchase—”
“No.”
“Listen.”
“No.”
He stopped.
“You said Mark thought you were waiting to take the company through me.”
Dad looked ashamed.
“I wasn’t.”
“But now that the opportunity exists…”
“I see value.”
I closed my eyes.
Of course he did.
Peterson had problems.
Also strong customer relationships.
Good employees.
Valuable real estate.
A sophisticated buyer could make money.
Dad wasn’t plotting six years ago.
But today, opportunity was opportunity.
“Stay out of my decision.”
His expression hardened.
“I’m trying to protect you.”
“That sentence has caused enough damage already.”
Silence.
Then Dad sat down.
“You’re right.”
Fast.
Simple.
That was one difference between him and Carol.
Dad was controlling.
But when confronted clearly, he could sometimes stop.
Then he told me something else.
“I owe you an apology.”
“For what?”
“For your mother.”
He had known the note wasn’t repaid.
For years.
Yes, he believed Mark would fix it.
But another part of him stayed quiet because he knew revealing it could damage my marriage.
He wanted Lily to grow up with both parents.
He had watched my mother’s illness tear our family apart emotionally.
He didn’t want more rupture.
“I decided your marriage was more important than you knowing the truth.”
I stared at him.
“That wasn’t your decision.”
“I know.”
For the first time, every adult in the story had made some version of the same mistake.
Mark.
Carol.
Megan.
Dad.
Mom.
Edward.
Choose what Chloe needs.
Tell her later.
Then Samuel called.
The conversion deadline had shifted.
Why?
The bank declared a new covenant default.
A more serious one.
Peterson Home Systems had guaranteed debt for another company.
Undisclosed to me.
Entity:
MCP Holdings.
Owner:
Carol Peterson.
I stared at the page.
Mark looked as confused as I was.
May you like
Carol had made a major financial decision without either of her children knowing.
Now we finally understood why she was more desperate about my waiver than anyone else.
