I continued.
“Are you sorry because your daughter humiliated someone? Or because the person happened to be married to the man whose signature you need tonight?”
“That is not fair.”
The words came from Sloane.
Her father closed his eyes.
She realized too late what she'd said.
I looked at her.
“What's unfair?”
“You're making it sound like we only care because of him.”
“Would we be sitting in this room if I were married to nobody you knew?”
Sloane stared at me.
I waited.
The silence became the answer.
Richard looked genuinely ashamed.
“I can't prove what I would have done in another circumstance.”
“No.”
“But I can tell you what I'll do now.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“This isn't just personal anymore, Richard.”
Richard's expression sharpened.
There it was.
Business.
The language everybody in the room understood.
Daniel tapped the thick transaction binder in front of him.
“We're being asked to enter a thirty-year operating relationship.”
Thomas Caldwell interjected.
“Daniel, with respect, no one here condones what happened, but this transaction employs thousands of people. We need to separate—”
“Separate what?”
“A personal incident from corporate governance.”
Daniel looked at him for several seconds.
“Your son is vice president of strategic partnerships at Caldwell Capital.”
Thomas stiffened.
“He has no authority over this transaction.”
“He is attending the signing dinner.”
“He's family.”
“And an officer of your company.”
Evan looked suddenly ill.
Daniel continued.
“Sloane is Mercer Urban's director of public engagement.”
Richard said nothing.
I hadn't known her title.
Public engagement.