Chapter 8
Alaric’s advisers wanted a narrow investigation.
Seraphine.
Brightwell.
Graydon.
The forged application.
Nothing else.
Do not open the family office.
Do not open Alaric’s companies.
Do not give outsiders access to years of household payments, trust interactions, related-party consulting, or security records.
Alaric understood why.
His legitimate businesses were substantial.
Hotels.
Commercial properties.
Restaurants.
Security contracts.
Years of family relationships ran through them.
Some were cleaner than others.
Expense classifications.
Informal consulting arrangements.
Family employees who had never been evaluated like ordinary executives.
Old habits he had tolerated because correcting them caused conflict.
Rebecca explained the alternative.
“Full independent review of everything touching Elowen’s trust, Brightwell, Graydon, Seraphine’s consulting arrangements, the family office, and any company account used to reimburse household services.”
“What happens if they find unrelated problems?”
“They report them where required.”
“Even mine.”
“Yes.”
“Even if it hurts the company.”
“Yes.”
Alaric looked through the glass wall toward Elowen.
She was drawing with Marjorie.
For days she had asked one question repeatedly.
“You really aren’t sending me?”
Every time, Alaric answered no.
Every time, she still needed to hear it again.
Seraphine had damaged something between them without Alaric even knowing it was under attack.
He signed the authorization.
Independent forensic accountants.
Outside trust counsel.
Outside security review.
No family veto.
No quiet return of unrelated misconduct.
The decision was nearly impossible to reverse.
His chief financial officer warned:
“You may create problems we don’t currently have.”
Alaric replied:
“No. We may discover problems we already have.”
The costs began immediately.
A lender asked questions about related-party vendors.
Two family consultants lost access pending review.
One executive resigned.
Alaric personally reimbursed several mixed personal-business expenses flagged in the first week.
Then the investigators found the original digital file for the Graydon application.
Not on Seraphine’s computer.
Inside Alaric’s home-office document system.
Created using his login.
May you like
At 2:14 in the morning.
On a night Alaric had been in another state.
