Mark appreciated that more than she could know.
After the meeting he walked with Lila to the elevator.
She asked whether he intended to sue everyone involved.
Mark told her he wanted the false claims corrected and his business protected.
He had not decided what else justice required.
Lila nodded and said that was probably the first sensible answer she had heard since taking the assignment.
THE MEETING DANIEL DID NOT EXPECT
Daniel requested a meeting with Mark through a letter delivered by courier.
The letter proposed an informal discussion to avoid expensive litigation.
Rachel reviewed it and arranged a meeting at her office with counsel for both sides.
Daniel arrived wearing a charcoal suit and the confident expression Mark remembered from the few times they had met socially.
He greeted Mark as though the previous months had been an awkward misunderstanding.
Mark did not return the performance.
Daniel’s attorney, a careful man named Paul Denton, began by saying that his client wanted to explore a commercially reasonable solution.
Rachel asked him to define the problem that required a solution.
Paul said the project had experienced unexpected access complications.
Rachel answered that Mark had never agreed to provide access and that the supposed complications arose from documents his client disputed.
Daniel leaned forward.
He said the neighborhood needed investment and that Mark’s shop could benefit from a modernized delivery entrance.
Mark asked why Daniel had not approached him with a straightforward offer before submitting drawings that showed a nonexistent gate.
Daniel replied that the consultant had handled the technical details.
Rachel placed the original and revised drawings on the table.
She asked who had instructed the consultant to change them.
Paul advised Daniel not to answer without reviewing the project correspondence.
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
He offered to pay Mark a substantial amount for a limited access easement.
Mark asked whether the offer required him to release claims relating to the disputed documents.
Paul said a comprehensive settlement would ordinarily address all outstanding matters.
Mark looked at Rachel, then back at Daniel.
He said he was not interested in selling access while the provenance of the paperwork remained unresolved.
Daniel asked whether Mark was willing to destroy a development over a strip of pavement.
Mark replied that the development had been designed around property Daniel did not own.
The room became quiet.
Daniel turned toward Vanessa’s name in a folder on the table.
He suggested that family misunderstandings had complicated what should have been a simple business transaction.
Mark told him not to use his marriage as a substitute for a property deed.
