Becca’s eyes flick to mine.
“Mandy?” She asks.
“Yes,” he confirms. “She approached him, overheard him at the country club. Said she had a business proposition. Her best friend wanted to open a salon, with funding potential, and a partner already lined up. Apparently, Mandy needed something to work on. She was low on money, stability … and frankly, status.”
“She knew Sam had the skillset to make it real, and our savings,” Becca says quietly.
“And Rick,” I add, “needed something to fix his situation.”
Daniels grunts in agreement. “He was already in deepwith the Yarrows at this point. The previous deal went bad; the money didn’t come back the way it was supposed to. He needed a win, and fast.”
“So he latched onto the salon,” I respond, seeing it all clearer now.
“Exactly,” Daniels replies. “Cash-heavy business with a quick turnaround. Looked like an easy way to stabilize things and keep Yarrow off his back.”
Becca shifts slightly beside me, shifting the puzzle pieces together.
“But the salon wasn’t his end game, and it quickly didn’t work out for him,” she correctly deduces.
“No,” Daniels agrees. “And that’s where things started to shift.”
I already know where this is going.
“The cabin property,” I answer, seeing it clearly.
Daniels is silent before continuing on.
“He knew about the rarity of the lot. Mandy mentioned it early on. The unique zoning has potential for huge expansion if handled right. His goal was to get it; he wanted to push you to delay building …,” he trails off.
I let out a breath.
“Yeah. He did that,” I add, feeling the shame roll through me at how deeply I was played.
“He figured if he could keep it untouched,” Daniels keeps going, “he’d have a shot at bringing it to Yarrow later. Bigger play and more money.”
Becca stiffens, leaning away from me slightly.
“And when that didn’t work?” She asks tentatively.
“He pivoted again, trying another strategy,” Daniels goes on. “Your listing.”
“Charles’ property,” I say.
“Yes,” Daniels grunts in agreement, “That one hethought he could control through Becca right away. Told Yarrow he had access, told us he promised it. Building a huge apartment complex on a lot like that would be huge.”
Becca exhales slowly.
“But he didn’t get it.”
“No,” Daniels says. “And when he couldn’t capture that deal … that’s when the pressure really hit.”
I scrub a hand over my face. “So the cabin damage was the last move.”
“Last leverage point,” Daniels corrects. “He figured if something happened to the property—damage, delays, insurance involvement—it would force movement. Decisions would slow, revenue would be delayed, opening a door for him to step back in.”
“Create a problem he could solve,” Becca says.
“That’s exactly how he put it,” he agrees.
