“You don’t need my interpretation.
You heard him.”
The investor nodded once.
Then he faced Aaron.
“My office agreed to hear your proposal because you were asking me to trust you with capital, employees, and long-term partnerships.”
Aaron leaned forward.
“Exactly.
And my numbers are extremely strong.”
“I’m sure your presentation says so.”
Hope flashed across Aaron’s face.
Then the investor continued.
“But I learn more about a person from how he treats someone he believes cannot help him than from any presentation he prepares for someone who can.”
Aaron’s expression hardened.
“That’s not business.”
“It is when I choose my partners.”
Aaron looked stunned.
“You’re canceling a serious investment discussion because I made a joke to my ex-wife?”
“No,” the investor said.
“I’m canceling it because you demonstrated your judgment in public, then called it a joke when you learned she had power.”
The sentence hit harder than shouting could have.
Aaron looked around for support.
There was none.
The mall director spoke next.
“Mr.
Maddox, your access to the private investor reception has also been withdrawn.”
Aaron spun toward him.
“You can’t do that.”
“I just did.”
“I was invited.”
“Your invitation was conditional on professional conduct.”
Aaron laughed once, sharply.
“This is unbelievable.”
He turned toward me again.
“You planned this.”
“No.”
“You knew I was coming.”
“I knew your company was on the guest list.
I did not know you would walk across the lobby and throw money into my cleaning cart.”
His eyes moved toward the trash bin.
The bills were still there.
For the first time, he seemed embarrassed by them.
Kylie stepped back another pace.
Aaron noticed.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m not doing this.”
“You were laughing too.”
Her face reddened as several cameras turned toward her.
“That was before I knew—”
She stopped.
Everyone heard what she had nearly admitted.
Before she knew I mattered.
I almost felt sorry for her.
Almost.
Aaron stared at her as if betrayal had suddenly become offensive to him.
Then he returned to the only strategy he had left.
He blamed me.
