Chapter 71: the people behind the numbers

Damian’s first meeting of the day started twelve minutes late.

Not because he had forgotten about it.

Because Oliver Grant had called to say his operations manager could arrange the customer interviews, but three of the customers Damian wanted to speak with had already been contacted by another potential buyer.

Damian sat at his desk, phone pressed to his ear, and stared at the Brightpath spreadsheet.

"Another buyer?" he asked.

"That’s what I’ve been told," Oliver replied. "They approached us a few months ago. We didn’t get very far, but they recently reached out again."

"Are they still interested in buying the company?"

"I believe so."

Damian tapped his pen against the desk.

He wasn’t particularly bothered by the existence of another buyer. If Brightpath was worth acquiring, someone else noticing its potential wasn’t surprising.

What concerned him was the timing.

"Have you signed anything with them?"

"No. We exchanged some preliminary information, but there was no offer I was willing to accept."

"Did you give them access to your customer records?"

"Only aggregated figures and some general information about the business. Nothing confidential beyond what we’d already agreed to share."

"All right."

Oliver paused.

"I should mention that I’m not trying to create a bidding war. I told you about them because I thought you should know."

"Fair enough. I appreciate the heads-up."

After the call ended, Damian opened his notes and added a new line.

Other interested party: identity and intentions unknown.

He wasn’t going to increase his offer before he had even decided whether he wanted to make one.

If another buyer wanted to pay too much for Brightpath, that was their problem.

Damian had his own problems to solve.

He closed the spreadsheet and joined the meeting with Maya.

"Before we discuss Brightpath, there’s an update on Meridian."

Maya Patel appeared on his laptop screen, sitting in a small conference room with a folder open in front of her.

Damian leaned forward.

"Good news or bad news?"

"Neither. Just information."

"That usually means bad news."

"You’re learning."

He grinned.

"Go on."

"The attorney has reviewed the documents Michael provided. Rachel’s retained rights are a genuine concern, but we don’t have enough information to conclude that the proposed acquisition would be impossible."

"So we’re still in the same position."

"More or less. The existing license gives Meridian permission to use certain components of the original architecture. The uncertainty concerns the scope of modifications, future commercial development, and whether particular rights would survive a change in ownership."

Damian rubbed his chin.

"Can we get those rights transferred?"

"Possibly. That depends on the original agreement, Rachel’s willingness to negotiate, and the position Northstar takes."

"And if Rachel wants too much money?"

"Then you evaluate whether the deal still makes sense."

"That’s what I wanted to hear."

Maya smiled faintly.

"There’s another issue. Michael’s proposed purchase terms assume you’re acquiring a business with a stable product and established customer relationships. But the technical assessment suggests modernization will require more work than we initially estimated."

"How much more?"

"I don’t have a reliable figure yet. The technical team needs to finish examining the infrastructure before anyone gives you a responsible estimate."

Damian glanced at the Meridian valuation sheet.

The asking price was already difficult to justify.

If he had to spend substantially more on modernization, the numbers could change quickly.

"What about Northstar?"

"We’re still waiting for the complete shareholder and investment agreements. Victor has acknowledged the request, but we haven’t received everything."

"Did he give a reason?"

"He said some documents required internal review before they could be released."

Damian sat back.

"Of course they do."

Maya didn’t laugh.

"Damian, I want you to understand something. Meridian could still be a good acquisition. The customer relationships have value, and the product solves real problems. But you need to know exactly what you’re buying before you decide what it’s worth."

"I understand."

"Do you?"

He looked at her.

"Yes, Maya."

"Because you’ve spent weeks investigating this company. You’ve met the founder, the accountant, the consultant, the largest customer, the former co-founder, and Northstar. Sometimes people become attached to a deal simply because they’ve invested so much time in it."

Damian went quiet.

Ethan had said nearly the same thing.

He didn’t enjoy hearing it twice.

But that didn’t make it wrong.

"You’re saying I might be trying to make the deal work because I’ve already spent so much time on it."

"I’m saying you should be aware of that possibility."

Damian looked at the notes beside his keyboard.

He’d written pages about Meridian. He’d negotiated the price down. He’d imagined what the company could become with better software and more efficient operations.

Somewhere along the way, he’d started thinking of its potential as something he could claim.

He hadn’t bought it.

He didn’t own it.

And nobody owed him a good deal simply because he’d done his homework.

"All right," he said. "We’ll wait for the documents and the technical report. No revised offer until then."

"Good."

"And if the final numbers don’t work?"

"Then you walk away."

Damian nodded.

"Fine. Let’s discuss Brightpath."

Maya opened another folder.

"I’ve arranged the first customer interviews for tomorrow. Oliver’s operations manager has also sent us a more detailed breakdown of cancellations, though some of the figures still need to be reconciled against the subscription records."

"Any surprises?"

"One. Their longest-standing customers are generally satisfied. The more recent customers are less consistent, but the reasons vary. Some leave because of missing features. Others shut down their businesses or move to competing products."

"So we can’t assume every cancellation is Brightpath’s fault."

"Correct. We’ll need to separate ordinary customer turnover from problems the company could actually fix."

Damian smiled.

"You’re making this sound like a proper investigation."

"It is a proper investigation."

"Right. Sorry."

Maya continued.

"The company also relies heavily on a few people for customer support. Oliver handles many of the complicated cases personally. If he leaves after the transition period, you’ll need a plan for that."

"Could we hire someone?"

"Certainly. But that adds another salary, and it doesn’t solve the problem if the knowledge is all in Oliver’s head."

Damian added another note.

Document procedures and transfer customer knowledge.

He was beginning to understand why small businesses could be difficult to acquire.

The spreadsheet might show six hundred customers and a profitable operation. It wouldn’t show how many customers stayed because the founder personally answered their calls, or how much information lived in the founder’s memory instead of the company’s systems.

Buying the business meant inheriting all of it.

The useful parts.

And the messy parts.

That afternoon, Damian met Ethan at a café near campus.

Ethan was already there, sitting with an iced drink and scrolling through his phone.

"You look tired," he said as Damian approached.

"Thank you."

"You’re welcome."

Damian ordered a drink and sat across from him.

Ethan put his phone down.

"Any progress with the companies?"

"Some."

"That’s a very unhelpful answer."

"Meridian still has legal and technical questions. Brightpath has decent revenue, but its newer customers leave more often than its older ones."

Ethan considered that.

"So people who know the company like it, but new customers aren’t always impressed."

"That’s one possible explanation."

"Why do you always make everything sound like a school assignment?"

"Because I’m trying to understand it before I spend millions on it."

Ethan picked up his drink.

"Fair."

Damian told him about the other potential buyer interested in Brightpath.

Ethan’s eyebrows rose.

"Wait. Someone else wants it?"

"Apparently."

"And you’re not worried?"

"Why would I be?"

"Because they might buy it before you do."

"Then they buy it."

Ethan stared at him.

"Who are you, and what have you done with Damian Cross?"

Damian laughed.

"I’m serious. I haven’t even finished investigating the company. I’m not going to throw money at Oliver just because somebody else is interested."

"Good. Because I was about to ask whether you needed me to slap some sense into you."

"You’d need a ladder."

"Keep talking, rich boy."

Their drinks arrived.

For a while, they talked about ordinary things. Ethan complained about an assignment, Damian reminded him that he’d had two weeks to complete it, and Ethan argued that the lecturer had deliberately scheduled it during a period when students needed emotional support.

"Your emotional support is a deadline extension," Damian said.

"My emotional support is a friend who understands me."

"I understand you perfectly. That’s why I’m not helping."

Ethan laughed and reached across the table to steal one of Damian’s biscuits.

Damian moved the plate away.

"Buy your own."

"You’re a millionaire."

"And you’re a thief."

They both laughed.

Damian liked that Ethan still treated him the same way. There were no awkward questions about money every five minutes, no sudden attempts to turn their friendship into a business arrangement.

Ethan knew Damian had money now.

He didn’t know about the System, and Damian intended to keep it that way.

Some things were easier left unexplained.

When they finished, Ethan checked the time and stood.

"I have to go. I’m meeting someone from my department."

"Someone?"

Ethan gave him a suspicious look.

"Don’t start."

"I didn’t say anything."

"You were about to."

"Was I?"

"Yes. And for your information, she’s a classmate."

Damian raised both hands.

"Good luck with your classmate."

Ethan pointed at him.

"You’re enjoying this too much."

"Have fun."

Ethan walked away, shaking his head.

Damian watched him leave before checking his phone.

He had a message from Emily.

Emily: Are you free this evening?

He replied immediately.

Damian: For you, yes. Everything okay?

Her response came a minute later.

Emily: Yeah. Mum’s doing better today. She was asking about you again.

Damian smiled.

Damian: Tell her I’ll come by later if that’s okay.

Emily: She’ll like that. So will I.

He read the message twice before locking his phone.

He’d been so occupied with the acquisition process that he’d barely noticed how much calmer things had become between them.

Emily was talking to him more openly now. She no longer changed the subject every time he asked about her mother, and she had started telling him about the small things happening in her day again.

They still had things to work through, but the distance between them was shrinking.

That mattered more to him than any spreadsheet.

Emily’s mother looked better when Damian visited that evening.

She was still recovering, and the hospital bills remained a concern, but she could sit up comfortably and hold a conversation without tiring as quickly.

Emily sat beside her bed, helping her adjust a pillow.

"Look who’s here," she said when Damian entered.

Her mother smiled.

"Damian. It’s good to see you."

"Good to see you too, ma."

He greeted her and asked how she was feeling. She gave him the usual answer about being better, then complained about the hospital food.

Damian laughed.

"That’s a good sign. You’re already arguing with the menu."

"If I have to eat another plate of that rice, I’ll start demanding compensation."

"Fair enough. I’ll speak to the management."

Emily rolled her eyes.

"Please don’t encourage her."

Her mother laughed, and for a while, the three of them talked about harmless things.

Damian told her about university. Emily filled in the gaps when he left out details. Her mother asked whether he was eating properly, and he assured her that he was.

She didn’t entirely believe him.

"You boys think buying food is the same as eating properly," she said.

"Ma, I eat."

"Good. Then you won’t mind eating here tomorrow."

Emily burst out laughing.

Damian looked at her.

"You’re enjoying this."

"Very much."

He shook his head.

"All right. I’ll come tomorrow too."

Her mother smiled.

After a while, Emily stepped outside with him to get some water.

They stood near the corridor window, away from the noise of the ward.

"Thank you," she said.

Damian glanced at her.

"For visiting?"

"For everything."

He leaned against the wall.

"You don’t have to thank me every time I show up."

"I know."

"Then stop."

She smiled.

"I’ll try."

He watched her for a moment.

"How are you doing, really?"

Emily looked down at the bottle in her hands.

"Better. I still feel bad about everything that happened with Adrian, but I’m not thinking about it every second anymore."

Damian nodded.

"You don’t have to pretend it didn’t happen."

"I’m not. I just don’t want it to be the only thing we talk about."

"Then we won’t make it the only thing we talk about."

She looked at him.

"You’re not going to ask me to explain everything again?"

"No. You’ve told me what I need to know. If there’s something else you want to tell me, I’ll listen. But I’m not going to keep asking you to relive it."

Emily’s shoulders relaxed.

"Thank you."

Damian gave her a small smile.

"Besides, I have enough problems of my own. Two companies are trying to convince me they’re worth millions of dollars."

She blinked.

"Two companies?"

He laughed.

"Long story."

"You have to tell me."

"I will. Just not here."

"Fine. But I’m holding you to that."

She slipped her hand into his.

They stood there for a little longer, talking about their plans for the weekend.

Nothing dramatic happened.

Nobody made a grand declaration.

Emily simply leaned against his shoulder, and Damian stayed beside her until she was ready to go back inside.

For now, that was enough.

Later that night, Damian returned home and opened his laptop.

Two folders waited on the screen.

Meridian.

Brightpath.

He opened his notes and reviewed the questions he’d prepared for the next day’s customer interviews.

Then he checked his current balance.

$5,099,924.32.

He had enough money to make an offer on either business. Depending on the final price and the condition of the company, he might even have enough to acquire one and still fund its immediate needs.

But having enough money to buy something didn’t mean buying it was the right decision.

He opened the System interface.

The golden screen appeared in front of him.

[INVESTMENT EVALUATION IN PROGRESS.]

[NO NEW QUALIFYING TRANSACTIONS.]

[CURRENT BALANCE: $5,099,924.32.]

Damian dismissed it.

The System could reward him for qualifying purchases. It could give him money, unlock features, and make his financial life easier.

It couldn’t tell him whether Oliver was the right person to sell Brightpath.

It couldn’t decide whether Rachel’s rights would become a legal nightmare.

And it couldn’t make an aging software platform easier to maintain.

Those decisions were his.

Damian closed the laptop and stretched.

Tomorrow, he would talk to Brightpath’s customers. He would ask the questions that Oliver might not enjoy answering. He would wait for Meridian’s legal review and technical assessment.