Faisal looked toward the name of the person who approved the summary.
His expression changed.
It was his own nephew, Nabil Al-Rashid.
Nabil was thirty-four.
He had studied finance in London, worked at an international bank, and joined Crescent Horizon seven years earlier. Faisal trusted him with significant transactions and had gradually expanded his responsibilities.
Nabil was intelligent, ambitious, and exceptionally skilled at presenting complex investments in ways that made them look inevitable.
He also believed his uncle had become too cautious.
Faisal built the family investment group through decades of patient acquisitions and conservative financing. Nabil wanted larger transactions, faster expansion, and the prestige associated with closing deals that attracted international attention.
The Harbor Nine acquisition was his most important assignment.
He negotiated early terms with Meridian.
Supervised financial advisers.
And reported directly to Faisal on the projected returns.
Successful completion would establish him as a serious candidate for a larger leadership role.
Failure would damage his reputation.
When Mariam raised concerns about the trust notices, Nabil dismissed them as ordinary seller disputes.
He insisted Meridian's lawyers had provided assurances.
He argued that the acquisition's structure made direct land ownership questions less important than Amara claimed.
And he warned that delaying closing might allow competing bidders to enter.
Faisal listened.
Then asked a simple question.
"Did you read the original Arabic agreement?"
Nabil hesitated.
"I read the translated summary."
His uncle stared.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Faisal said.
"Your father helped negotiate that agreement."
Nabil's face tightened.
"I know."
Faisal leaned forward.
"Then you should have understood why the original wording mattered."
Nabil looked away.
The room became quiet.
And for the first time, Faisal began wondering whether his nephew's confidence had concealed something more troubling than carelessness.
Khalid Al-Rashid had been Faisal's younger brother by seven years.
Where Faisal preferred boardrooms and financial reports, Khalid preferred visiting the places their investments affected. He spent hours walking warehouses, speaking with engineers, and asking workers what problems the company's executives didn't understand.
The brothers argued often.
Faisal thought Khalid sometimes allowed emotion to influence business decisions.
Khalid believed Faisal sometimes allowed numbers to obscure human consequences.
But they respected each other.
When Khalid first proposed investing in Harbor Nine, Faisal questioned the project's community ownership arrangements.
Why give a small local trust approval rights that might complicate a future sale?
Khalid answered that the community contributed land the project couldn't function without.