“Okay,” he says, taking a deep breath. “I don’t know how else to go about this other than to just ask. Do you own part of your dad’s company?”
I pause for a second then start laughing. He watches me but he doesn’t smile, and it takes me a second to realize that he’s not kidding.
“Uh, no, of course not,” I say. “My father has kept me far, far away from all of his businesses, including the Fisher Consortium. Especially the Consortium.”
He nods, looking uncomfortable. “That’s what I thought you’d say. But, well, I don’t know how to say this, but it looks like you’re wrong.” He pulls a file from his desk and hands it to me.
I take it from him and open it while Lacey fusses in my lap. I can’t really understand what I’m looking at, but it’s clearly some kind of breakdown of the Fisher Consortium.
“I’m sorry,” I say to him. “But what is this?”
“When we started doing the merger analysis for your father’s company, we were given all of the financial and ownership records on the Fisher Consortium. At the time, nothing looked out of the ordinary, at least until this morning when word of our marriage got around the office.”
“I still don’t follow,” I say, getting frustrated.
“I know. I’m getting there.” He takes the folder back from me. “One of my top lawyers came to me this morning and showed me this document. According to your father’s own records, you own thirty percent of the Fisher Consortium. It’s right here in your name.” He shows me the paper and points.
Sure enough, my name is there, followed by some numbers.
“That’s a thirty percent stake,” he says, points at the number. “Look up here. Your father has another fifty-one in his name. And the rest is parceled out to important members of the staff.”
I stare at him, shaking my head. “What are you saying?”
“You own part of the Fisher Consortium, Erin. I mean, you’re the second largest owner.”
I just don’t really understand what’s happening here. “Is this some kind of joke?”
He sighs, looking at me seriously. “I’m not kidding around, Erin. Clearly you didn’t know about this, but your father must have forged some documents and put these shares in your name. I don’t know why, but he did.”
This is insane. I look at the paper again and sure enough, my name is still there, follow by the numbers. I just can’t seem to wrap my head around this, and Lacey’s squirming isn’t helping.
My father has never given me anything in my life, or at least nothing more than he’s supposed to as a parent. He gave me a home and clothes and sent me off to school, which is all well and good, but he never once suggested that he was going to give me a part of his business.
I had no clue about this. He never mentioned it. Clearly he had to forge my signature on any legal documents, which is shady to say the least, but I don’t understand why he’d go to the trouble of putting those shares in my name.
“What does this mean?” I ask Griffin.
He looks at me and sighs. “I don’t know,” he admits. “It’s very, very strange. But I do know that you’re a part owner of his company, at least legally speaking.”
I’m a part owner of the Fisher Consortium. The mere thought makes me laugh out loud, and Griffin looks at me like I’m insane.
He stands and comes around his desk again. He takes Lacey from me, which makes her giggle with delight.
“Take some time and process this,” he says. “Think back and try to remember if he ever mentioned anything about this to you.”
“Griffin,” I say, standing and starting to pace. “I swear to you. I didn’t know a thing about this.”
He sighs and frowns at me. “You can understand why I might be a little… hesitant.”
I stop pacing and face him. “Do you think I was hiding this from you?”
“I don’t know.” He looks down at his desk. “I don’t know what to think, Erin.”
I stare at him, shocked. He thinks that I knew about this and that I was hiding it from him, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. “You’re really accusing me of lying to you?”
“You did it once,” he points out. “Can you blame me for being careful?”
I stay away from him. “I married you.”
“I know,” he says softly.
“I’m not lying. I wouldn’t lie about this. I had no clue about any of it.” I step away from him again. “But you think I’m a liar.”
“Please, Erin. I’m just being careful. It’s a pretty huge coincidence that you just so happen to own part of this company. I don’t know what to think.”