Chapter 6 - The Daughter on Trial
The temporary hearing was set quickly enough to make my heart jump each time my phone rang.
Nathaniel's lawyer, Richard Sloan, had described me as a disgruntled daughter who used specialized professional knowledge to sabotage the family business.
He asked the court to restrict disclosure of company information while his client investigated a data breach.
The pleading didn't say Nathaniel had taken my savings.
It didn't mention the alleged forged guaranty.
It described my mother as an innocent employee intimidated into surrendering proprietary records.
My mother saw the filing and left me a voicemail.
“I didn't say that.”
Dana prepared an accurate response supported by the bank dispute number, the threatening letter, and the fact that my mother had voluntarily approached me.
She would not promise that the court would immediately see through my father.
“The law is not a theater where the villain receives his cue to confess,” she said.
“We need facts and patience.”
In the hallway outside the hearing room, Dad approached with his hands clasped behind his back.
“There's still time to end this,” he murmured.
“All you have to do is come home.”
“I don't live there.”
“You'll always be my daughter.”
“That doesn't make me your property.”
He looked almost disappointed.
“Your grandmother spoiled you.”
Inside, the judge questioned the scope of the requested order.
Dana explained that my possession of a notebook voluntarily provided by its owner did not establish illicit computer access.
Sloan insisted the notebook contained proprietary business material.
The judge ordered both parties to preserve relevant records, restricted certain dissemination while ownership and confidentiality were assessed, and declined the sweeping order my father wanted.
It wasn't a total victory.
But Nathaniel could not publicly call it one, either.
Outside the courthouse, reporters were waiting.
Someone had leaked the lawsuit.
A local business blog published a headline about a financial crimes analyst accused of targeting her father's firm.
The story omitted his unauthorized transfers.
When I arrived at Northline, Priya asked me into her office.
The company's legal team had received an anonymous complaint alleging I manipulated a client report.
Attached was the same altered document left beneath my door.
Priya didn't accuse me.
She did say my role would be temporarily reassigned while security verified the report's provenance.
I could feel my father's strategy working.
He wanted me to choose between financial ruin and professional ruin.
Then Northline's security manager came in carrying a printed access log.
Someone had attempted to retrieve the original report through an account disabled eighteen months earlier.
May you like
The account name belonged to Graham Voss.
