Summer With You

Roadshow

The IPO roadshow was 5 cities, 12 meetings, and 72 hours of no sleep.

Mira hated every second of it.

“Smile,” Zain murmured as they walked into the Chicago conference room. “They like CEOs who smile.”

Mira shot him a look. “I’m not a product, Zain.”

“You’re a $2.4 billion product right now,” he said. “Smile.”

She smiled. It was fake. The investors didn’t notice.

The Chicago meeting went well. Q&A was sharp but fair. One fund manager asked about Victor Malik. Mira gave the line legal had written: _“Mr. Malik is no longer affiliated with the company. We’re focused on the future.”_

They got the commitment. $80 million.

By the third meeting in New York, Mira’s voice was hoarse.

Zain noticed. He started taking the first 10 minutes of every Q&A, letting her drink water, letting her breathe.

“You don’t have to do that,” she whispered during a break.

Zain shrugged. “You’re better at the vision stuff. I’m better at the numbers. We play to strengths.”

Mira looked at him. “Since when are you good at numbers?”

“Since I stopped using them to impress my dad,” Zain said.

Mira didn’t have a response to that.

---

Boston was where it went wrong.

The meeting was with Sterling Capital’s old partner firm. Mira knew the risk going in, but Elena insisted they needed their capital.

Halfway through the presentation, the managing partner, Marcus Bell, raised his hand.

“Ms. Hale,” he said. “Before we discuss capital allocation, I have a question about governance.”

Mira nodded. “Go ahead.”

Bell slid a folder across the table. “Your COO, Mr. Malik, was involved in a lawsuit in 2019. Shareholder derivative suit against Malik Enterprises. It was settled out of court. Why wasn’t this disclosed in the S-1?”

The room went cold.

Mira looked at Zain. He was already reading the folder. His face went blank.

“Zain,” Mira said quietly.

Zain closed the folder and looked at Bell. “It was a nuisance suit. Filed by a shareholder who lost money on a trade. It was dismissed. There was no admission of wrongdoing.”

Bell smiled. “The SEC thinks it’s material. They’ll ask. And when they ask, the whole roadshow stops.”

Mira felt the floor drop out.

Zain stood up. “We’ll address it with legal. This meeting is over.”

He walked out. Mira followed, heart pounding.

In the hallway, she grabbed his arm. “What is he talking about?”

Zain stopped. He looked exhausted.

“2019,” he said. “I was 19. Dad put me on the board for ‘training.’ A shareholder sued the board for approving a dividend. I voted yes because Dad told me to. The suit was dismissed in 30 days. It was nothing.”

“Then why didn’t legal put it in the S-1?” Mira asked.

“Because I told them not to,” Zain said. “I thought it was embarrassing. I didn’t think it mattered.”

Mira stared at him. “Zain, it matters now.”

“I know,” he said.

---

They cancelled the last two meetings.

Legal spent the night drafting an amendment to the S-1. The SEC would need to approve it before trading could start.

Mira didn’t sleep. She sat in the hotel room, staring at the Boston skyline, replaying the meeting in her head.

Zain came in at 2 AM with coffee and a look on his face she’d never seen before.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

Mira looked up. “For what?”

“For lying. Even if it was by omission. For making you defend me in there.”

Mira sighed. “You didn’t lie. You just didn’t tell me.”

“That’s the same thing,” Zain said.

Mira set her coffee down. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Zain sat on the edge of the bed. “Because I was scared. Scared you’d see me the way Dad sees me. As a liability. As someone who needs to be managed.”

Mira crossed the room and sat next to him.

“Zain, I’ve seen you lie to a billionaire’s lawyer, fire a CFO, and stand up to your father. You’re not a liability.”

Zain laughed, but it was shaky. “You’re biased.”

“Maybe,” Mira said. “But I’m also your CEO. And your CEO needs you to not keep secrets like this.”

Zain nodded. “Understood.”

Mira bumped his shoulder. “Good. Now go to sleep. We have a call with the SEC at 7 AM.”

Zain stood up. “You’re coming too?”

Mira raised an eyebrow. “You think I’m letting you face the SEC alone?”

Zain smiled, tired but real. “No.”

---

The SEC call was brutal.

Two hours of questions about the 2019 suit, about Zain’s role, about disclosure protocols.

Mira did most of the talking. She didn’t make excuses. She explained what happened, what changed, and how they’d fixed the process.

When it was over, the SEC attorney said, “We’ll review the amendment and get back to you in 48 hours.”

Mira hung up and dropped her head into her hands.

Zain sat next to her. “We did it.”

“We might have just delayed the IPO by two weeks,” Mira said.

“Two weeks,” Zain said. “Not two years. Not forever.”

Mira looked at him. “You’re annoyingly optimistic.”

Zain grinned. “You love it.”

Mira didn’t deny it.

---

The SEC approved the amendment 36 hours later.

The roadshow resumed in Philadelphia. No more surprises.

The final meeting was in DC, with a pension fund that controlled $400 million.

Mira walked in alone. Zain stayed in the hotel, per legal’s advice.

The fund manager, a woman in her 60s named Margaret Cole, listened to the whole presentation without taking notes.

When Mira finished, Margaret said, “Your COO wasn’t here today.”

Mira kept her face neutral. “He had a family matter.”

Margaret nodded. “I read about the 2019 suit. I also read about what you did to Victor Malik.”

Mira waited.

Margaret leaned forward. “I don’t care about a dismissed suit from when he was 19. I care that you stood up to your board, fired a CFO for trying to sell you out, and took on Victor Malik and won. I care that you kept 80% of the staff your father trusted.”

Mira blinked. “So?”

“So,” Margaret said, “we’re in for $150 million. And I’ll tell my board that if they have a problem with your COO, they can call me.”

Mira let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding.

“Thank you,” she said.

Margaret smiled. “Don’t thank me. Make me money.”

---

They hit the $2.4 billion valuation on the morning of the listing.

Mira stood on the NYSE floor in a navy suit, Zain beside her, bell in hand.

“Ready?” Zain asked.

Mira nodded.

They rang the bell together.

The floor erupted.

Later, in the office, Elena handed Mira a bottle of champagne.

“To Hale-Malik,” Elena said. “Publicly traded.”

Mira took the bottle but didn’t open it.

“To Thomas Hale,” she said quietly.

Zain raised his glass. “To Thomas Hale.”

They drank.

---

That night, Mira found a new email in her inbox.

No subject. No sender. Just an attachment.

She opened it.

It was a photo.

Zain, age 19, signing a document. Behind him, Victor Malik’s signature was already on the page.

The subject line of the email auto-filled when she tried to forward it.

_You don’t know everything about him._

Mira stared at the screen.

Her phone buzzed.

Zain: _You awake? Can we talk?_

Mira didn’t answer.

She opened the photo again.

And realized she didn’t know what Zain had signed