The Love Of Money - S01 E255

Story 7 hours ago

The Love Of Money - S01 E255

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 255

"People disappearing... going bankrupt... dropping out of the business world entirely to pursue 'simplicity." Chandler hesitated before saying, "Were you being honest when you said you didn't engineer that scherne with Mrs. Tanaka?"

"Engineer? Chandler, I didn't even know Carla was worth scherming with! Why didn't you tell me she had two of Hiro's seven percent?"

"I didn't find out until last week when I was reviewing the shareholders. When Hiro and I talked initially, he mentioned giving Carla shares for her birthday because she was whinging about wanting to feel 'more important. She always seemed well under his thumb, so I didn't think much of it. Truth be told, it didn't matter. Tanaka's always been a straight shooter, so I trusted him once he made a deal with us."

"So, what do you think made him play dirty this time?"

Chandler shrugged. "I couldn't tell you. All I know is that whatever Maddox promised him must have been significant. The problem is that Kelly Maddox doesn't have the resources to beat our offering."

"What does that mean?"

"That someone with access to serious money and power is backing her," he said, giving me a sobering look.

"Shit," I said, glancing back in the direction Hiro had disappeared. I almost expected him to be peering around the corner, watching me

"Indeed," Chandler agreed. "I'm afraid you've made a powerful enemy today. He may be a straight shooter, but Tanaka also holds grudges.

My phone vibrated in my hand, and the display said there was a message from Chloe: Carla's in the room we met in earlier with Chandler. Erin's with her. Also, thought you might want to know that Amber Bell left. We couldn't find a good enough reason to call the cops on her. Fill you in on the details later.

The loss of Amber made me want to break another phone, but I mariaged to reign myself in. Instead, I looked back at Chandler and said, "Okay, so kind of did scheme with Carla."

"Pardon?" Chandler sald.

I explained the entire situation to him, leaving nothing out. By the time I got done, Chandler looked astounded.

time I got done, Chandler looked astounded.

"My word," he said. "Mrs. Tanaka has more tenacity than I would have ever expected!"

"That's one word for it," I said. "Can we find a place for her at VistaVision?"

"I suppose we could find her some sort of executive assistant position to fill. I highly doubt she's qualified for much else, to be honest."

"Okay" I said. "Take a couple of days to think about it. In the meantime, I'm going to talk to her and assess the damage."

"Of course," he said, returning to finish packing the rest of his briefcase.

"Oh, Chandler," I said as I texted Chloe to tell her was on my way. "Congratulations on the position. You deserve it, and I'm sure you're gonna rock it."

Thank you, sir," Chandler said, breaking into a half-grin despite the shadow Hiro Tanaka had just cast over us. "I shall strive to do my very best,"

A few minutes later, I entered the room Chloe had mentioned. She'd been waiting for me by the door as I approached with John at my heels and followed me in. John took a position just outside the door to ensure we weren't disturbed.

Carla and Erin were sitting in a couple of the chairs around a smaller version of the dark wood meeting table we'd all been sitting around less than an hour ago. The wife of Hiro Tanaka gave me a full smile as her eyes gleaned in pure triumph. However, I noticed a subtle lack of color around her eyes, her flawless application of makeup may have kept her cheeks rosy, but it didn't do a perfect job of disguising that she'd gone a little pale. That meant Carla was afraid.

No one could know Hiro Tanaka as well as his wife, so if Carla was scared, that meant the things I'd heard from the others about her husband were likely true. That was bad news. At least there was a sliver of a silver lining-her fear meant I had an ally who wasn't completely insane.

"Why did you do it?" I asked, deciding I wasn't going to beat around the bush.

"What?" Carla asked. "No 'thank you, Carla?"

"No," I said. "Hiro's pissed, and I'm starting to think he's someone I don't want pissed at me."

"Can we at least talk alone?" Carla asked, glancing at Erin and Chloe.

Erin started to rise.

"No," said. "I trust these two more than just about anyone. They get to hear whatever you have to say. They probably need to."

Carla huffed and pouted. "Fine"

"So," I said. "Why?"

"Because I have a prenup, Carla sald with a shrug.

"A prenup?"

"It's a-"

"I know what a prenup is," I cut her off. "You did it because you have a prenup?"

Carla nodded. "Yeah. Well, not just that. We were supposed to negotiate this year, but Hiro said it wouldn't happen. He doesn't trust me with his money and told me back in February that once he passes, everything's going to his kids. He promised me I'd be taken care of through a trust, but the kids are trustees, and they hate me, so I wanted out."

She continued, "I kept bugging him about wanting to be more involved in money stuff, so he set me up with some stock and let me come with him to board meetings and stuff. I liked being able to vote. That was fun."

"Anyway, Hiro set me up with a little money to trade with, and he saw it kind of like a game we could play together. I was really bad, and he got bored with it, so he handed my stuff to a broker. He thought that would be the end of it, but I kept giving him shit about giving up on me and started getting headaches at night."

"For my birthday, I told him I wanted something really nice. I meant a car or something, but I guess he thought I was still into the finance stuff, so he gave me some of his VistaVision stock and told me it was more valuable than any necklace he'd buy me."