Chapter 17 - The Vote Nicole Couldn't Control
Leah refused to delete anything. She forwarded the request to Priya, who reminded every employee to preserve records.
At nine the next morning the independent trustees gathered. Judith placed the original trust schedule on the table. The auditor presented payments that could not be matched to real services. Devon's print-order emails showed who had changed the program; Celeste's report and Owen's footage showed who had struck first.
Nicole looked around for Brandon. He remained beside his father.
"You're throwing away our marriage over paperwork," she said.
"No," Brandon answered. "You used our marriage to get past questions I should have asked. That's what I'm finally seeing."
The trustees voted to suspend Nicole's authority, replace the compromised financial controls and refer the findings to the authorities. They authorized a civil action to recover the transferred money. The court's temporary hold on the property remained in place.
"You will destroy the foundation," Nicole said.
Sebastian shook his head. "We nearly destroyed it by refusing to look."
Nina had been asked to speak briefly. She held up the original program with the full Harbor House amount.
"Every person waiting for that grant had a name," she said. "You changed a number on a page and expected them to disappear with it. They didn't."
Nicole reached for the program. Nina set it down in front of Judith instead.
"It's already been copied," Nina said. "You can't take back the question."
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As Nicole's lawyer led her from the room, she turned once. "Adrian won't carry this alone."
Brandon closed his eyes. Nina understood then that the investigation was going to reach deeper into the family than any of them had wanted.
