Chapter 19 - The Company Survives
Reed Development Group did not collapse.
That surprised relatives who had enjoyed predicting poetic ruin.
It shrank.
Ryan sold one unfinished property.
Bad timing.
Moderate loss.
Used proceeds to:
Reduce bank debt.
Repay part of Linda’s shareholder loan.
Remove disputed guarantee exposure.
The bank settled with Ryan/company after he accepted responsibility.
My guarantee was voided after formal review and release.
My house was never pledged.
No foreclosure.
No family mansion stolen.
The company laid off three employees.
Painful.
Kept nine.
Reduced project pipeline.
Ryan stopped calling it:
scaling.
Started calling it:
surviving.
By second year, business stabilized at half prior volume.
No empire.
A company.
Maybe healthier.
The irony:
If Ryan had told me truth eighteen months earlier, I might have agreed to a limited, properly compensated, capped guarantee after independent counsel.
Maybe.
We would never know.
May you like
Consent withheld creates counterfactuals no one can recover.
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