Chapter 5
The first Meridian records arrived two days later.
Martin found that Beatrice had approved several large payments to a consulting company called Northbridge Care Solutions.
Northbridge claimed to provide family medical coordination and beneficiary support.
Its invoices were polished.
Its website was professional.
Its services were difficult to verify.
The company had two employees.
Neither was a licensed medical professional.
One was Sabina's former executive assistant.
The other was an administrator who previously worked at Meridian.
Northbridge had received $610,000 from the Corsetti Family Reserve over eighteen months.
Its ownership was held through a private investment company.
That company belonged to Sabina.
Damien stared at the report.
“She owns the vendor?”
“Seventy percent,” Martin answered.
“Was it disclosed?”
“Not in the reserve records we've received.”
“Did Beatrice know?”
“We're checking.”
Rebecca cautioned him.
“Related ownership doesn't automatically mean every invoice was false.”
“Then verify the work.”
“Exactly.”
The auditors found genuine services.
Northbridge arranged nursing visits for an elderly Corsetti relative.
Coordinated transportation after a surgery.
Handled medication-delivery logistics.
Those tasks had value.
But the charges were high.
And several invoices overlapped with work already performed by Meridian.
One elderly beneficiary had been charged twice for the same care-coordination period.
Another had been billed for a medical consultation that never occurred.
Martin estimated that at least $180,000 required immediate explanation.
Then he found an unusual internal email.
Sabina had written to Meridian's director:
Once Luca is enrolled, we can normalize the larger dependent-support allocation.
Paul Hensley replied:
Only if Elara's independent authorization is replaced.
Sabina:
Mother will handle that.
The message was dated three weeks before Luca's birth.
Damien looked at Rebecca.
“They planned this before he was born.”
“Yes.”
“Before Elara was in the hospital.”
“Yes.”
Another email contained a draft payment schedule.
It listed three proposed transfers totaling $420,000.
All categorized as dependent-support services.
The first two matched the declined transactions on Elara's stolen card.
The third had not yet been attempted.
Elara read the schedule.
“Who was supposed to receive the money?”
Martin answered.
“Northbridge.”
Sabina's company.
The black card was not being used to pay for Luca's care.
It was being used to move money from the family reserve to a business Sabina secretly controlled.
But Rebecca still wanted to know why they needed Elara's PIN.
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If Beatrice already administered the reserve, why assault a woman who had just given birth?
The answer lay in the exact authority created when Elara married Damien.
