Unpaid suppliers.
Tax problems.
A lawsuit from a former partner.
He had charisma and ambition, but no discipline with money.
I had discipline.
I also had an inheritance I didn’t know what to do with.
“My father’s trust invested in the company,” I told Ruiz. “I restructured the debt and created the holding entities that later became Apex.”
“And the preferred shares?”
“Mine through the trust.”
“Does your husband know?”
“He knows the trust exists. He has copies of the agreements.”
“But does he understand that you have voting control?”
I thought of Ethan signing papers in our lawyer’s office years earlier.
He had skimmed the first page.
Tapped his pen against the table.
Asked when the new financing would clear.
I had tried to explain the protective structure.
He kissed my cheek in front of everyone and said, “That’s why I married the smartest woman in the room.”
