Page 71 of Betting on the Brainiac

He nods. “Okay. Let’s dig in.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Oliver

Bhani. Raymond. Lacey. Martha.Remember their faces,I tell myself as I try to organize my thoughts for Madison.Remember how everyone in the Azora office looked when Matt announced that we have to let everyone go in two weeks.

None of the last-chance options Matt had tried had worked out. We’d told the staff this morning. Their expressions had ranged from panicked to resigned. It had been a gut punch.

This proposal is how we change that.

“Would you rather get your trust fund now instead of waiting four more years?” I ask Madison.

“Of course.”

I reach into my workbag and pull out three documents, setting them on the table, face down. I turn over the first one. “I meet every qualification that your parents expect in your future husband. Here’s the proof from my college GPA to my creditscore. I included other things like my parents’ information, my height, weight, and medical history. There’s no dirt to dig up.”

She takes it and scans it. “You were your high school salutatorian, went to Penn, and graduated summa cum laude with a double major in computer science and business.” Her eyebrow goes up and she glances up at me. “How do you carry that giant brain around in your head?”

“Same way you carry yours.”

That makes her smile. “How did I not know any of this about you?”

“It’s not that big a deal. I put it all down in case it matters to your parents.”

“It doesn’tnotmatter.” She goes back to the document. “Wait, you’re the chief technology officer at your company, not a regular programmer?”

I don’t answer because she’s holding the confirmation in her hands.

When she’s finished looking through it, she sets it down again. “You do check every box. But why are you doing this?”

I turn the second document over and slide it to her. “This is the operating budget for Azora Software from now until product launch. The most important part of that budget is our payroll. We hire candidates that aren’t first-choice options for other tech companies because we value the nontech skills and insights they bring to the job. On Monday, we found out that the next round of funding we were counting on fell through.”

“Monday?” she says. “That’s why you got here late. And then I took over everything with my family drama, and—”

“Madi, don’t. Do not be hard on yourself for that. I’m glad I got to listen. I would have done that for you no matter what as a friend, but weirdly, it’s also potentially opening up an opportunity for both of us.”

She hesitates, then nods. “Okay. Tell me.”

I tap the sheet in front of her. “This is what my company needs to keep going.” I turn over the final document and slide it to her. “This is how we get there, and you get what you want too.”

She draws it toward herself and reads the title aloud. “Prenuptial agreement.”

“Do the terms of the trust specify how long you have to stay married?”

She shakes her head. “Only that I get the money after one year.”

“Read through this prenup with as many lawyers as you need to feel comfortable, but this is the bottom line. We get married for one year and one day. It will be a legal marriage, and they will need to release your first five million to you the day you present proof that the marriage certificate has been recorded with the state. At that point, I’ll need almost a third of the money from you.”

Her eyes jerk to mine. “You want me to give you two million dollars?”

“One-and-a-half, and not give. Invest. You’ll find the terms on page three.”

She flips to them, and I sum it up. “I will not have any claim to the balance of the trust when it’s disbursed to you. As for the money, you’ll get equity ownership in Azora. We project we’ll have enough profit in three years to cash you out. My partner and I will reserve the right of first refusal if you decide to sell those shares. But at that point, you can fully divest, or if you like the returns, you can keep your stake. There are provisions for your compensation in the case of an exit event, but we aren’t looking for acquisition.”

Madison reads, forehead furrowed, her eyes racing over some lines, slowing down at others, going through the entire document. She sits back when she’s done and stares into space.

Finally, she sighs and looks at me. “I understand that this proposal gets me my money sooner. I appreciate that you’ve made it very clear that your access to the funds will be limited and time-definite. But there have to be easier ways for you to get the money.”

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