Chapter 6
Cassian’s father had created the first lie.
The old files proved it.
Dominic Romano’s handwritten notes were preserved inside the family legal archive.
One page read:
Leah Brennan — pregnancy claim credible. C not to be disturbed until confirmation.
C.
Cassian.
Another:
DNA not necessary if private support accepted. Better no record tying boy directly to C.
Cassian put the page down.
Katherine said nothing.
He continued.
A later note:
Leah refuses termination. Provide support. No public filing.
Cassian looked up sharply.
“Termination?”
Katherine had already investigated.
Dominic had apparently offered Leah money to end the pregnancy.
She refused.
No evidence suggested further coercion.
Dominic pivoted to support and concealment.
Another page:
Cassian’s career cannot absorb this now. Handle permanently.
Cassian laughed once.
A terrible sound.
“He decided permanently for me.”
“Yes.”
Dominic’s original motive appeared ugly but straightforward.
Reputation.
Control.
The belief that he knew what was best for his adult son.
Then something changed.
By Lucas’s fourth year, the support account began carrying extra vendor costs.
Dominic used the confidential beneficiary channel for unrelated family security work.
Not millions at first.
Tens of thousands.
A surveillance invoice from another matter.
A lawyer’s private investigation.
Travel for an adviser.
The logic was clear.
Nobody asked questions about the hidden-child account because nobody wanted the hidden child discussed.
Dominic discovered a convenient place to park sensitive expenses.
After several years, the channel became a shadow budget.
Cassian stared at the records.
“So Lucinda didn’t invent it.”
“No.”
“She inherited it.”
“Yes.”
“And expanded it.”
“Significantly.”
That mattered.
The crime did not begin with a seductive mastermind entering Cassian’s life and inventing every problem.
The family had already built the hidden room.
Lucinda simply learned how to use it.
When Dominic died, the coded support file transferred with several private family accounts.
Cassian never reviewed it.
His estate lawyers assumed he knew.
Lucinda offered to handle confidential family administration while Cassian dealt with Dominic’s businesses and funeral obligations.
Cassian agreed.
One sentence.
Handle whatever my father was handling.
The authorization looked horrifying now.
Katherine did not let him wallow in it.
“You did not authorize fraud by telling your wife to handle administration.”
“I authorized opacity.”
“Yes.”
That distinction was important.
Then the audit team traced where excess money went after Lucinda took control.
Northgate’s inflated charges paid Peter Shaw’s company.
Peter paid legitimate staff and housing costs.
But approximately $560,000 flowed from Northgate to a consulting firm.
That firm paid:
Lucinda’s personal investment account.
Luxury travel.
Private legal fees.
And a $210,000 loan to a restaurant venture she owned quietly with a friend.
The direct benefit was now documented.
Still not enough to explain the crisis strategy.
Katherine found another reason.
The foundation’s upcoming forensic audit would examine related-party vendors.
Northgate would be flagged immediately because Lucinda had failed to disclose Peter’s ownership.
The auditors would then inspect the hidden beneficiary account.
That would expose:
Dominic’s original concealment.
Years of improper expense allocation.
Lucinda’s diverted money.
Forged authorizations.
And Lucas.
All at once.
Lucinda did not merely face financial embarrassment.
She faced the possibility that Cassian would discover she had known about his son for years and intentionally kept him hidden.
That was a marriage-ending fact even before the money.
Katherine looked at him.
“She needed to control the reveal.”
Cassian nodded.
“And blame me first.”
May you like
“Yes.”
That was the structure beginning to emerge.
