Chapter 4 - The Divorce Was When Northstar Changed
I did not leave Brendan and immediately begin plotting revenge.
That would have been simpler.
The first six months after our separation were miserable.
I was pregnant.
Exhausted.
Trying to divide a life while protecting an unborn child from adult conflict.
Brendan moved fast.
New girlfriend.
New social circle.
New narrative.
According to Diane, our marriage failed because I had become “difficult.”
According to Jessica, I had “lost Brendan because I stopped trying.”
According to Brendan, we had simply “outgrown each other.”
I stopped correcting people.
Instead, I went back to work.
Northstar had become much larger while I was semi-inactive.
Rebecca had built teams in Chicago, New York, and Denver.
We specialized in troubled real-estate debt.
That was how Brendan’s company appeared on my desk.
Not through spying.
Through an ordinary credit committee report.
Hartman Luxury Development Group.
Liquidity deteriorating.
Three stalled projects.
Two lenders seeking exits.
Personal guarantees embedded in several older facilities.
And one piece of collateral immediately familiar to me:
the villa where Diane had just dumped mop water over my head.
I almost removed myself from the transaction.
Rebecca stopped me.
“Would you walk away if the borrower were anyone else?”
“No.”
“Then don’t confuse professionalism with surrender.”
So I disclosed the conflict.
Recused myself from negotiations involving Brendan personally.
Independent counsel handled pricing.
An outside committee approved the debt purchase.
Everything documented.
Everything legal.
May you like
And for months, Brendan negotiated with Northstar’s representatives without realizing his pregnant ex-wife still owned the largest individual stake in the firm across the table.
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