The negotiation was set in Philadelphia, in the conference room of a veteran law firm. It was a neutral location where neither side had a home-court advantage.
Leo did not attend the negotiation in person. This had been agreed upon in advance with Evelyn. While he remained in Pittsburgh, Evelyn would lead the legal team at the site. Leo stayed online throughout the entire process via an encrypted call. He would speak when necessary, but for the most part, he just listened.
When Evelyn entered the conference room at exactly nine in the morning, the representatives from Constellation Energy had already arrived. Paxton sat at the head of the table, flanked by Margaret and a negotiation consultant she had never seen before.
This man, Jonathan Wells, was a professional negotiation lawyer Paxton had brought in from the outside. His presence indicated that Constellation Energy had escalated the nature of this meeting from an informal communication to a formal negotiation.
