Chapter 3 - The Audit of Betrayal
The next morning,
the air in the mansion was heavy with the scent of industrial cleaning supplies.
I had hired a new team,
people with no ties to my family,
to scrub away every trace of the people who had lived there.
In the library,
I sat across from Marcus,
my head of legal and finance,
a man who looked as grim as I felt.
"It’s worse than we thought,
Daniel,"
Marcus said,
laying out a series of bank statements on the desk.
"They didn't just spend the allowance you set up for Emily."
"They forged her signature on power of attorney documents."
"They’ve siphoned off nearly four million dollars over the last three years."
"Michael used a portion of it to pay off gambling debts in Vegas."
"Ashley opened a boutique in her own name using company funds."
"And your mother..."
he paused,
shaking his head.
"She’s been buying property in Florida,
all in her name,
paid for in cash from your restaurant's expansion accounts."
I leaned back in my chair,
the numbers swimming before my eyes.
They hadn't just lived well,
they had been trying to drain me dry before I ever found out.
"Can we recover it?"
I asked,
my voice cold and clinical.
"We can sue for restitution,"
Marcus replied.
"But the real leverage is the criminal fraud."
"If you press charges,"
"They’re looking at ten to fifteen years each."
"Do it,"
I said,
without hesitation.
"Every single penny they took needs to be accounted for."
"Every forged signature needs to be investigated."
"Daniel,"
Marcus said softly,
"They are your family."
"No,"
I replied,
looking through the glass doors at Emily sitting in the garden.
"She is my family."
"The people who lived here were parasites."
I spent the afternoon going through the service kitchen myself.
I looked at the pots Emily had been scrubbing.
I looked at the harsh chemicals they had made her use without gloves.
I found her old phone in a drawer in my mother’s suite,
the screen cracked,
filled with unsent messages addressed to me.
Daniel, please come home.
Daniel, I’m so lonely.
Daniel, they’re being mean to me today.
I dropped the phone,
falling to my knees on the expensive rug.
I had been so busy building a kingdom that I hadn't noticed the Queen was in a dungeon.
I stayed there for a long time,
the weight of my failure pressing down on my chest.
I had believed their lies because it was easier than looking for the truth.
I had trusted my blood,
forgetting that blood can also be a poison.
When I finally went back to Emily,
I didn't talk about the money.
I told her about the New York apartment I had bought,
a place they didn't know about.
"We’re leaving,
Emily."
"We’re going to a place where the air is clean,"
"And the doors have new locks."
She looked at me,
a tiny spark of light finally returning to her eyes.
"Can we go now?"
she asked.
May you like
"Right now,"
I said.
