Chapter 9 - The Daughter He Planned to Blame
Isabella read the line four times.
Then she closed the laptop.
"He was going to blame me."
Mason looked at his sister.
"I think he already was."
The wedding reimbursement carried Isabella's signature.
The donor interviews featured Isabella.
The public claim that the Whitmores funded the children's wing had mostly come from Isabella's mouth.
Always letting his daughter become the face of the story.
Rachel found draft talking points in the BRIDE RISK folder.
If auditors discovered missing money:
ISABELLA OVERSAW DONOR EVENTS.
ISABELLA APPROVED WEDDING-RELATED EXPENSES.
ISABELLA MISUNDERSTOOD RESTRICTED FUNDS.
"He built an exit through his own daughter."
"I helped him."
"You repeated things without checking."
"I lied on television."
"Did you know they were lies?"
"No."
"Then say what you did. Not what makes you feel worse."
Isabella finally looked at her.
"Why are you doing that?"
"Doing what?"
"Being fair to me."
Eleanor's face softened only slightly.
"Because fairness is not a reward."
That sentence stayed with Isabella.
The forensic audit expanded.
By the end of the week, investigators identified $3.2 million in questionable transactions over four years.
Some had legitimate explanations.
More than one million did not.
Victor's attorney insisted he had made accounting errors under pressure.
Then Daniel Pierce, the missing CFO, finally called Rachel from Denver.
"I'm not running from the audit," he said.
"Then what are you running from?"
"Victor."
He claimed Victor had threatened to blame everything on him.
Rachel told him to contact authorities.
Before hanging up, he said:
"Ask Isabella about the lake house."
Isabella frowned.
"What lake house?"
May you like
Daniel went quiet.
"The one your foundation paid for."
