Chapter 7 - The Copy Andrew Hid
Andrew denied possessing Caroline’s letter.
Nathan did not argue.
He had learned.
Instead Rachel sought documents through the independent corporate audit.
Cole Urban’s internal server contained a scanned copy.
File path:
RIVERFRONT / MORGAN / LEVERAGE
Nathan stared at the word.
Leverage.
Caroline’s wishes reduced to leverage.
The scan had been uploaded from Andrew’s assistant’s account thirteen months earlier.
Five weeks after the original disappeared from Judith’s house.
Andrew could still claim someone sent it anonymously.
Then an email destroyed that defense.
Andrew to Aaron:
C letter is a problem if Nathan reads it emotionally. Keep discussions commercial.
Aaron replied:
Rebecca can manage N.
Nathan read the message twice.
Manage Nathan.
Rebecca had been assigned to him like a problem.
His marriage suddenly felt contaminated.
Not necessarily fake from the first day.
That was almost worse.
Perhaps Rebecca had loved him at some point.
And still decided his trust was more useful than honesty.
The board meeting happened at noon.
Andrew proposed Nathan’s temporary leave.
Nathan did not fight emotionally.
Rachel presented the independent audit emails.
The room shifted.
Andrew’s role in the riverfront strategy was now a conflict too.
One director asked:
“Did you coordinate with Nathan’s spouse regarding his daughter’s trust?”
Andrew’s lawyer objected to the framing.
The board chair looked disgusted.
Instead of placing Nathan alone on leave, the board suspended both brothers’ executive authority pending investigation.
An independent interim CEO took over.
Power reversed against everyone.
Nathan left the building without his company title for the first time in twelve years.
He expected panic.
Instead he felt relief.
Then guilt for feeling relieved.
Sophie needed him.
He had used work as identity for so long that being removed created space he should have created himself.
He picked her up from school.
She looked surprised.
“You came.”
“Is that weird?”
“You’re usually on the phone.”
He put his phone in the glove compartment.
“Not today.”
She smiled.
That small smile hurt more than losing the CEO chair.
At home Camille Foster from CPS returned.
She had interviewed Rebecca.
“Nathan, Rebecca alleges you coached Sophie after discovering the trust transactions.”
Nathan stayed calm.
“Did Sophie say that?”
“No.”
“Then why tell me?”
“Because there may be court proceedings and you need to know the competing allegation exists.”
Nathan nodded.
Camille continued.
“Sophie’s disclosures have been consistent.”
“About the shed?”
“Yes.”
“About threats?”
“Yes.”
“Anything else?”
Camille hesitated.
“She said Rebecca sometimes made her practice answers.”
Nathan felt cold.
“What answers?”
“What she would say if a judge asked whether she wanted to stay with Rebecca.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
“She was preparing Sophie for court.”
“It appears Rebecca discussed court scenarios with her.”
“That’s manipulation.”
“It is concerning.”
Nathan asked:
“Did Sophie say Rebecca ever physically hurt her?”
“Other than grabbing her arm or pulling belongings away, no.”
Nathan was almost grateful for that.
The cruelty had been psychological.
Still harmful.
But Sophie was physically safe.
That mattered.
Rachel’s financial investigators then found Dr. Samuel Crowe.
He had billed $96,000 through Bright Horizons.
When confronted, he claimed he conducted “parent consultations” with Rebecca.
Not Sophie.
Yet invoices described “direct child clinical services.”
Fraud.
Crowe agreed to cooperate after learning his billing could expose him to licensing and criminal consequences.
He produced emails from Rebecca.
One said:
Need language supporting residential option and unstable primary trustee.
Another:
Do not contact Nathan. He becomes defensive when Caroline is mentioned.
Crowe replied:
I cannot diagnose a child I have not evaluated.
Rebecca:
Then call it preliminary family consultation. Aaron will handle invoice language.
Crowe had not invented Sophie’s diagnosis.
Rebecca and Aaron had repackaged limited consultations into fake trust charges.
More importantly, Crowe had a recording of one video session.
Rebecca forgot it was automatically archived.
On the call Rebecca said:
“If Nathan is temporarily removed as trustee, Morgan Fiduciary steps in. That buys us enough time to close riverfront.”
Nathan stared at the transcript.
Us.
Riverfront.
Not Sophie.
Not therapy.
Money.
Then Crowe asked:
“And your marriage?”
Rebecca laughed.
“Nathan will forgive almost anything if he thinks keeping the family together protects Sophie.”
Nathan felt physically ill.
She knew exactly what he valued.
Then weaponized it.
But the recording continued.
Crowe asked:
“Does Andrew know you’re using school concerns?”
Rebecca answered:
“He knows enough.”
Not everything.
Enough.
That distinction would matter.
Andrew might be corrupt.
But Rebecca’s campaign against Sophie could be her own escalation.
May you like
The conspiracy had layers.
And not everyone shared every crime.
