Chapter 122: He Asked This Time
Oliver asked before taking, and my answer was still no.
On Friday, his formal request sat between my solicitor and me in her meeting room.
It identified the minor character, the proposed standalone novel, the requested territory and the exact period for which permission was sought.
It also stated that no text had been drafted, circulated, pitched or recorded using her.
The contract repository confirmed no related asset had entered North Quay's systems. Oliver's solicitor separately certified that the proposal had not been sent to another publisher.
That did not prove what existed everywhere in the world.
It did prove the request had arrived before any recorded use in the channels we controlled.
Oliver offered a fixed licence fee and a narrow acknowledgement line.
The money would have covered several months of my new rent.
His proposal did not mention Marian Crowe on the cover or claim succession to the series.
It was the request he should have made whenever shared work met an individual plan.
My solicitor asked whether compliance changed my answer.
“It changes what I say about the request,” I said.
It did not change what continuing the old fictional world would cost.
The character's history touched four of the six books and several unresolved reader relationships. Even a cameo would import details shaped by both of us across twelve years.
A supposedly limited appearance would create questions about canon, approval and future reuse.
It would also keep Oliver and me negotiating story choices after cancelling the seventh book.
I did not want a fee badly enough to rebuild that door.
My solicitor opened a response template with separate fields for conduct and decision.
Under conduct, I confirmed that Oliver had applied through the agreed route before use.
I confirmed that the material supplied showed no completed or proposed use beyond the request itself.
I did not call the request copying, theft, infringement or a repeat of the closed six-line matter.
Under decision, I withheld the second signature required for the character licence.
The refusal covered this proposal and granted no implied option for revised versions. A materially different request would still require a fresh, complete submission and two signatures.
It did not prevent Oliver writing a genuinely original character for his own novel.
I added that no refusal fee, penalty or publicity condition applied.
The old shared-world permission simply remained unavailable.
My solicitor read the letter back without softening the word no.
She also kept the paragraph recognising the proper request.
That paragraph cost me the easiest revenge story.
It admitted Oliver had used a boundary correctly even though I disliked the history behind it.
At 11.16, I signed the refusal.
The contract repository preserved his application, my response and the delivery receipt together, while keeping any unrelated outline for Oliver's book outside my access.
Oliver's solicitor acknowledged receipt twelve minutes later.
The acknowledgement accepted that no licence had been granted and instructed the relevant development record to retain the character-exclusion note.
It confirmed that the proposed character would not be used.
There was no argument about my motives in the record.
There was no attempt to turn asking correctly into a right to hear yes.
I had given up the fee without inventing a new offence.
The distinction felt less triumphant than accusation and more useful than forgiveness.
My solicitor marked the character request closed.
One remaining item in the retirement package stayed open.
Oliver's acknowledgement attached a position note about existing Marian Crowe merchandise.
He accepted that no new goods could be manufactured.
He rejected immediate destruction of stock already paid for and produced.
His note requested an ordinary sell-through rather than a fresh licence.
The contract team could not finalise the retirement package while its end date remained blank.
On Monday, the warehouse would count every branded item in front of both sides.
Oliver had accepted my refusal.
He still wanted the last Marian Crowe mug to be sold.