Chapter 10 - The First Real Crack
Dad crossed the kitchen without taking his eyes off the envelope.
"That's private," he said.
I placed the documents carefully back on the table.
"Mom says she didn't sign them."
"Your mother forgets things."
"I remember exactly what I signed," she said.
He turned toward her, astonished that she had contradicted him.
"Don't make a scene."
"You made one at our daughter's wedding," Mom replied.
The words struck him harder than shouting would have.
For a moment, he looked at her as though she were a stranger.
I told him the forgery allegations would be investigated by independent professionals.
I didn't threaten him.
I simply explained that the board had a duty to obtain accurate records.
"You think you can destroy everything I built?" he demanded.
"Grandmother built it," I said.
"I protected it."
"You hid money losses and used my name on a transfer."
He stepped close enough that I could smell his aftershave.
"Be careful what you claim."
I picked up my bag.
"Be careful what the records prove."
Mom followed me to the porch.
"I want a lawyer," she whispered.
I gave her the name of an independent attorney.
"Someone who represents only you."
She nodded.
Before I left, she asked the question I had dreaded.
"Do you hate us?"
I looked beyond her toward the roses she watered every morning.
"I hate what you've asked me to become to keep this family peaceful."
She began to cry.
I hugged her, but I didn't promise to make the consequences disappear.
That night, Nina received the preliminary forensic report.
The transaction had been initiated by someone with privileged access to the finance system.
The device fingerprint belonged to Gregory's office workstation.
The login showed a second identity layered over mine.
Gregory swore he hadn't authorized the impersonation.
But he admitted leaving his computer unlocked during a meeting.
Nina asked who had been in the office.
Gregory named three people.
My father.
Vanessa.
And a consultant working for Adrian Cole.
Then he added a fourth name so quietly I almost missed it.
"Your grandmother's former assistant."
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That woman had vanished from Mercer Hospitality the week Grandmother died.
