“My father borrowed against everything.”
“How bad is it?”
“Worse than anyone knows.”
“Does your mother know?”
“She refuses to believe it.”
He looked completely defeated.
“I don’t know how to save them.”
I reached across the table and squeezed his hand.
“We’ll figure it out.”
Back then, I believed we meant exactly that.
Together.
Within six months, I quietly arranged financing through one of my investment partnerships. The Bennett family’s manufacturing company survived.
No one outside the boardroom ever knew why.
Ethan thanked me over dinner.
“You saved my family.”
“We saved them.”
He smiled.
“I couldn’t have done it without you.”
I believed him.
At the time, he probably believed it too.
The years passed. My company expanded across Texas, Arizona, Florida, and Colorado, then into California and Tennessee.
Every acquisition strengthened our portfolio. Every successful deal generated more income than the last.
Eventually, money stopped being something I chased.
