Chapter 8 - The Money Under Westbridge
Nathan remembered signing the paper.
That was the worst part.
He remembered the conference room.
He remembered Julian sliding a stack of documents across the table.
He remembered Laura standing near the door.
"Read them," she had said.
Nathan had been late for a flight.
"It's standard."
Laura had looked at Julian.
"Then it won't hurt to read."
Nathan had become irritated.
He signed.
That moment had lasted perhaps fifteen seconds.
Three years later, it had become fourteen million dollars.
Nathan hired Samuel Reid, a former federal prosecutor specializing in corporate investigations.
Reid was blunt.
"You have two problems."
"Only two?"
"One: someone may have used your signature authorization to commit fraud. Two: you created the conditions that let them."
Nathan looked at him.
"Am I criminally liable?"
"Intent matters. Knowledge matters. Willful blindness matters."
"I didn't know."
"Then we prove what you knew and when."
The phrase sounded sterile.
Nathan hated it.
A forensic review showed the Westbridge money had moved through five shell companies.
Hartwell Advisory received $1.8 million.
Victoria had received $612,000 from Hartwell.
Another $4.2 million went to Cross Harbor Holdings.
Julian.
The rest disappeared through layered accounts.
Mara said, "Laura found this."
"Apparently."
"She may have been building a record."
Nathan looked at the brass M-12 key inside its evidence pouch.
"Then where is the record?"
Nobody knew.
Meanwhile, Victoria's public story spread.
Her attorney released photographs of the red mark Nathan's slap had left across her cheek.
No photographs of Emily's back were public because juvenile records were protected.
The result was predictable.
Nathan became the face of the scandal.
Sponsors canceled conference appearances.
A university removed his name from a fundraising dinner.
Mercer Systems shares fell another nine percent.
The board scheduled a vote to determine whether Nathan should remain chairman.
Claire finally agreed to meet.
She chose a private room in a law office rather than Nathan's hotel.
That told him everything.
She entered carrying no purse.
No phone.
"You think I'm being watched?" Nathan asked.
"I think everyone is being watched."
"By Julian?"
Claire sat.
"You shouldn't accuse people without proof."
"Laura accused him."
Claire looked away.
Nathan leaned forward.
"You lied to me."
"I protected you."
"That sentence is becoming very popular."
Claire's mouth tightened.
"Three years ago, Laura believed some Westbridge contractors were fraudulent."
"Believed?"
"She had irregularities. Not proof."
"Did she tell you?"
"Yes."
Nathan stared.
Claire continued quickly.
"It was days before the secondary stock offering. If allegations of internal fraud became public without evidence, we could have lost hundreds of millions."
"So you told her to wait."
"I told her forty-eight hours."
"And then she died."
Claire closed her eyes.
"Yes."
Nathan's voice became quiet.
"Did you tell Julian?"
Claire said nothing.
"Claire."
"I asked him for an explanation."
Nathan leaned back.
"You warned him."
"I was chairman of the audit committee. He was CFO. What exactly did you expect me to do?"
"Not tell the suspect."
"I didn't know he was the suspect."
"Laura did."
"Laura suspected everyone by then."
Nathan flinched.
"What does that mean?"
Claire hesitated.
"Your marriage was bad, Nathan."
He stared at her.
"Don't."
"She was angry with you. She talked about leaving."
Nathan stopped moving.
"No."
"She met a divorce attorney."
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
He stood.
Claire did, too.
"Sit down."
"You knew my wife was planning to leave me and said nothing?"
"She hadn't decided."
"How long?"
"Two months."
Nathan pressed both hands against the table.
Laura had died.
Nathan had spent three years sanctifying their marriage because guilt needed a shrine.
They had loved each other.
He still believed that.
But they had also fought.
He had been absent.
Obsessed with Mercer Systems.
He had dismissed her.
Claire said softly, "Victoria knew."
Nathan looked up.
"What?"
"Laura talked to Victoria about the separation."
The room went silent.
Suddenly Victoria's intimacy with Laura made more sense.
So did her access.
So did the way she had entered Nathan's grief afterward with exactly the right words.
Nathan whispered, "Was Victoria helping her leave me?"
"I don't know."
"What else are you hiding?"
"Nothing."
He almost laughed.
Nobody around him said "nothing" anymore without making it sound like a threat.
Mara entered ten minutes later with an urgent update.
The federal government had opened a preliminary inquiry into Westbridge's municipal contracts.
Nathan's signature was now officially relevant.
And Julian had called a board meeting for the next morning.
Claire looked at her brother.
"I'm voting to remove you as chairman."
Nathan stared at her.
"Why?"
"Because if I don't, the company may collapse."
He thought of Laura saying everyone has a choice.
May you like
Then he looked at his sister.
"No," he said quietly. "The company already taught all of you what to choose."
