Chapter 65: The Inquiry
The regulator’s inquiry arrived in early afternoon, politely enough to ruin Julian’s appetite before the first sentence ended.
Not an investigation, not yet; a request for information, which was how serious doors opened before anyone admitted a corridor existed behind them.
Derek brought it himself because forwarding the email would have been cowardly, and cowardice was crowded at Ashford Group.
Julian read the heading once and stood very still.
Preliminary inquiry regarding proposed listing disclosures and market activity.
Market activity, he said. Yes, Derek replied. Share movement? Likely.
Related-party disclosure? Likely. Whitmore funding? Derek did not answer quickly enough.
Julian threw the paper down. Everyone wants Whitmore suddenly.
No, Derek said. Everyone always needed Whitmore. They are only saying it now.
For one second, the office became too honest for both men to occupy comfortably.
Julian’s hand tightened on the desk, but he did not shout.
Shouting wasted oxygen, and oxygen had become another monitored resource.
What do they know? Julian asked.
Derek looked tired. Enough to ask the first question.
Across town, Serena received notice through Helena before Martin’s kettle boiled.
Helena’s message was concise: regulator opened preliminary contact with Ashford. Market activity and disclosure scope.
Serena read it twice.
The invisible hand had become visible enough to frighten them, but not visible enough to name.
That was the correct stage.
Martin looked at her. We pause buying.
Yes, Serena said. Immediately.
Helena confirmed in seconds. All vehicles holding. No further market action until reviewed.
The pause mattered, because Serena had never intended to win by appearing reckless.
She intended to make Julian look reckless for failing to understand why caution mattered.
Priya opened a new file: Regulatory Timeline.
No embellishment, Serena said. Every entry must survive daylight.
At Ashford, Julian’s counsel urged a calm response, which meant three days, six advisers, and answers that did not contradict underwriters before Thursday.
Julian looked at the schedule; Thursday was less than forty-eight hours away.
Thursday was supposed to be his stage, valuation, founder myth, and answer to the invisible buyer.
Now Thursday was surrounded by client pauses, underwriter demands, a regulator inquiry, Ivy’s posts, and Serena’s silence.
Silence had become the loudest thing in his life.
Ivy called while he reread the inquiry for the third time.
He rejected it once, then again.
Then her message arrived: You cannot keep me out of your big day.
Julian stared at it and almost laughed, not because it was funny.
Ivy still believed the big day was about standing beside him, while bankers wondered whether standing near him was contagious.
At Serena’s flat, Martin placed the regulator notice beside Julian’s interview and the early funding archive.
We have to be careful now, he said.
We have been careful, Serena replied.
More careful.
She looked at the Thursday guest list and saw the room before it existed: journalists, underwriters, clients, lawyers, cameras, and a man determined to call himself self-made before people holding receipts.
What do you want to do with Ivy? Martin asked. Nothing. She may come.
Serena looked at Ivy’s message forwarded by Gerald from the household phone log. Good, she said.
Martin did not hide his concern. Good?
If Ivy stands beside him, she becomes part of the picture he cannot crop out.
At Ashford, Derek placed the regulator inquiry into the board pack, its file name appearing on screen during a late internal meeting.
Preliminary Inquiry – Disclosure and Market Activity.
No one spoke for ten seconds.
Then Julian said, Prepare the Thursday room.
Derek looked at him. Are you certain?
Julian’s smile was thin enough to cut from inside. If they want answers, he said, I will give them a show.
In the flat above the dry cleaner, Serena closed the same update and whispered, Finally.