Chapter 4
Audrey’s estate lawyer arrived at the hospital with two colleagues the next morning.
Theresa tried to enter first.
Hospital security stopped her.
Audrey had already removed Theresa from the visitor list.
Gabriele arrived ten minutes later.
Audrey looked exhausted.
Her skin was pale from treatment, and an IV line ran beneath the sleeve of her hospital gown.
She still smiled when he entered.
“How’s Nora?”
“At Catherine’s.”
Catherine was Audrey’s longtime friend and Nora’s godmother. She had no Mazzaro business position and no financial interest in the trust.
“Good.”
Then Audrey looked at the lawyer.
“Show him.”
The proposed amendment did three major things.
First, it removed Theresa as successor trustee.
Second, it appointed Beacon Fiduciary Trust Company instead.
Third, it created an independent care committee that could approve extraordinary medical, educational, or disability-related expenditures for Nora without asking any Mazzaro family member for permission.
Gabriele read the amendment.
“You’re taking me out too.”
“You were never trustee.”
“I know.”
“But you thought I might put you in.”
He looked at her.
“Did you consider it?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you?”
Audrey reached for his hand.
“Because if something happens to you, Nora should not lose her financial structure too.”
Gabriele understood immediately.
He was a Mafia boss.
That meant arrest, prosecution, incarceration, violence, or disappearance were not abstract possibilities.
Audrey continued.
“I need one part of her life that doesn’t collapse depending on which adult is still standing.”
That hurt.
Because it was reasonable.
Then the lawyer explained the voting provision.
While Nora remained a minor, the trustee could exercise Audrey’s shareholder votes—but only under fiduciary obligations and the trust’s governance rules.
The trustee could not treat the shares as personal property.
Could not use Nora’s money for Theresa.
Could not distribute assets to relatives.
Could not simply hand the company to anyone.
But the voting rights were still powerful.
Audrey’s twenty-six percent block could become decisive during major shareholder disputes.
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Theresa had known that from the day the original trust was drafted.
And now Audrey was taking that influence away from her.
