The Love Of Money - Episode 255
11-08-25 (05:31)
"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." Don't forget to leave a Comment 
