Chapter 5
The forensic accountant was named Denise Parker.
She had no relationship with either side.
That was deliberate.
Her preliminary review of RH House found the problem was not that every expense was fake.
Most were not.
Dulcie’s work required production.
Ramona did real management.
The issue was allocation.
RH House charged Dulcie:
Thirty-five percent management fee on some campaigns.
Separate styling fees.
Separate production fees.
Separate “brand consulting” fees.
Several contracts effectively paid Ramona’s company twice for overlapping work.
In two years, approximately $168,000 of Dulcie’s earnings flowed to RH House beyond clearly supported third-party expenses.
How much was excessive?
Too early to say.
Industry rates varied.
Then Denise found personal charges.
A $12,000 family vacation partially classified as campaign travel despite only one afternoon of contracted shooting.
Designer clothing Ramona kept after campaigns.
Home-office renovation.
A luxury car lease partly allocated to “talent transport.”
Total questionable personal allocation so far:
$74,000.
Not enough to explain everything.
Then came a more serious issue.
Dulcie’s protected account should have held at least $105,000 based on contracts reviewed.
Current balance:
$63,400.
Some difference could be timing.
Some tax withholding.
Some authorized expenses.
Approximately $24,000 remained unexplained after initial reconciliation.
Ramona’s attorney argued the accounting was incomplete.
Correct.
No one called it theft yet.
Then Denise asked about a company called BrightHouse Media Partners.
RH House paid it $94,000 over two years.
Owner:
Ramona’s brother, Julian.
Services:
Digital advertising and audience growth.
Did it perform work?
Yes.
Was the rate high?
Probably.
Was it disclosed as related-party?
No.
That mattered.
Benedict’s custody petition suddenly intersected directly with money.
If he obtained greater school-week custody, he intended to limit commercial shoots to weekends and school breaks.
Fewer campaigns.
Lower RH House revenue.
If the court ordered independent accounting, Ramona’s fee structure would be examined.
She had financial incentive to preserve the current arrangement.
Still, Marcus warned:
“Do not reduce this to money.”
Benedict looked at him.
“She cut my daughter’s hair.”
“Yes.”
“Because of custody.”
“Maybe partly.”
“There’s that word again.”
Marcus remained calm.
“People usually have more than one motive.”
Ramona resented Ainsley.
Feared losing time with Dulcie.
Feared losing income.
Feared being publicly framed as a mother exploiting her child.
All could coexist.
Then Nell told her therapist one small detail.
Before the haircut, Ramona had said:
“Let’s see how your mother acts when you’re not perfect.”
The therapist documented it.
Ainsley read the line.
May you like
It was not about Nell’s beauty alone.
Ramona had been thinking about Ainsley’s reaction while holding the scissors.
