Chapter 6 - The Conflict Ethan Ignored
“I didn’t know about the letter,” Ethan said.
Lily sat across from him in Elena’s office.
“That doesn’t change what you did.”
“No.”
“You’re chairman of Hale Development.”
“Yes.”
“The company offered eleven million for my property.”
“Yes.”
“You knew the appraisal was higher.”
“The new appraisal came after the initial offer.”
“Did you tell the board to raise it?”
“I told them we should review it.”
“That is not the same.”
“No.”
Tessa sat beside Lily.
She had said almost nothing.
That helped.
Lily did not want another adult arguing for her while she tried to understand.
Elena placed the trust documents on the table.
“Nora’s letter is not legally binding by itself, but the conflict issue is real.”
Ethan nodded.
“I’ll recuse myself immediately.”
Lily looked at him.
“Would you have if we hadn’t found this?”
He answered too slowly.
“I don’t know.”
That honesty hurt.
But Lily preferred it now.
Sarah Lin joined by video.
Commonwealth Trust had begun reviewing every Northstar reimbursement.
“The good news,” Sarah said, “is that the Mercer property has not been sold.”
“What’s the bad news?” Lily asked.
“The trust paid Northstar more than we initially realized.”
Sarah displayed transactions.
Nine reimbursements.
$843,000.
Some labeled family counseling.
Some academic placement.
Some psychological consultation.
One:
Residential readiness planning — $116,000.
Lily stared.
“I didn’t get residential readiness.”
“No,” Sarah said.
“We cannot identify any legitimate service matching most of these invoices.”
Ethan looked sick.
“Why did the trustee pay them?”
“Because they came through approved distribution channels with supporting authorizations.”
“Mine?”
“Some.”
“How many?”
Sarah hesitated.
“Three appear to contain genuine electronic approvals associated with your account.”
Lily looked at Ethan.
He stared at the screen.
“I don’t remember three.”
Sarah continued.
“Four used the same credential but were submitted at times we need to verify. Two contain uploaded signatures rather than portal approval.”
Elena said:
“We need digital forensics.”
“Yes.”
Lily asked:
“Did Dad approve the one hundred sixteen thousand?”
Sarah checked.
“No.”
Ethan exhaled.
Lily noticed.
He was relieved not because the money was safe.
Because one particular betrayal might not be his.
That bothered her.
“Which ones did he approve?”
Sarah highlighted them.
$25,000.
$18,500.
$22,000.
Total $65,500.
Ethan looked at the first.
“That’s Daniel’s original family assessment.”
The second.
“I thought that was tutoring and academic counseling.”
Lily stared.
“What counseling?”
Ethan’s face tightened.
“Vivian told me Northstar was coordinating Dr. Patel and your tutor.”
“Dr. Patel bills insurance.”
“I know that now.”
“You didn’t then?”
“I didn’t check.”
The third invoice was labeled:
Educational placement advisory.
Lily almost laughed.
“That’s the boarding-school thing.”
“Yes.”
“How much did you think it cost?”
“Twenty-two thousand.”
“You paid twenty-two thousand to have people decide whether I should leave home without talking to me.”
Ethan did not defend himself.
“Yes.”
Tessa finally spoke.
“That is the part you need to own whether Vivian stole a dollar or not.”
Ethan nodded.
“I do.”
Lily looked away.
It would have been easier if every painful thing came from Vivian.
It did not.
Sarah moved to the next issue.
“Northstar’s banking records are under subpoena through our civil process. We may need law enforcement depending on findings.”
“Can Vivian go to jail?” Lily asked.
Nobody answered immediately.
Elena did.
“It is possible that criminal conduct occurred. Possible is not the same as certain.”
Lily nodded.
“What about Daniel Crowe?”
“Same answer.”
“Can I meet him?”
“No,” Ethan said immediately.
Lily looked at him.
Elena raised a hand.
“That is one place I agree with your father.”
“Why?”
“Because he is potentially involved in financial misconduct and you are fourteen.”
Lily almost argued.
Then stopped.
Not every boundary was control.
Sometimes an adult saying no actually had a reason connected to safety rather than secrecy.
That distinction was becoming important.
Sarah said:
“There is also the Mercer Avenue transaction.”
Lily straightened.
“I want it stopped.”
“You may express that preference.”
“Can I stop it?”
“Not automatically.”
Lily frowned.
“What are information rights worth if I can’t decide?”
Sarah smiled slightly.
“Information lets you challenge adults before their decisions become invisible.”
That answer Lily liked.
“We are commissioning a new independent appraisal,” Sarah continued. “Hale Development’s offer will not proceed until conflicts are addressed.”
Ethan said:
“I’ll withdraw the company’s offer.”
Lily looked at him.
“Because Mom told you to?”
“Because I should never have allowed myself to sit on both sides of the deal.”
“What if the company wants to buy later?”
“Then someone else handles it and the trust gets independent advice.”
Tessa nodded.
Better.
After the meeting, Lily and Tessa walked to a café while Ethan stayed with Elena.
Tessa ordered tea.
Lily ordered hot chocolate even though she believed fourteen was possibly too old for it.
She changed her mind after the first sip.
“Why didn’t you talk to Dad for two years?”
Tessa looked at her.
“I talked to him.”
“You know what I mean.”
Tessa sighed.
“After Nora died, Ethan wanted everything stable.”
“That sounds nice.”
“It can become controlling when stability means nobody is allowed to change anything.”
Lily listened.
“He kept you in the same school, same house, same schedule.”
“I liked that.”
“I know.”
“So?”
“He also refused grief counseling for himself.”
Lily stared.
“He sent me.”
“Yes.”
“That’s hypocritical.”
“Very.”
Tessa smiled.
“He buried himself in work. Then he married Vivian quickly.”
“Three years isn’t quickly.”
“Not generally.”
Tessa stirred her tea.
“For Ethan, it was.”
“You didn’t like her.”
“I didn’t trust how quickly she took over family decisions.”
“So you left.”
“I criticized. Ethan got defensive. Then I visited less.”
Lily felt anger.
“You abandoned me because you were mad at him.”
Tessa flinched.
The truth had landed.
“Yes.”
Lily had not expected the admission.
“I told myself your father was loving you well and I was avoiding conflict.”
“Sounds like something Dad would do.”
Tessa laughed sadly.
“That’s why Nora made both of us part of your support system.”
Lily looked out the window.
Adults kept calling avoidance peace.
It was not.
Her phone buzzed.
A message from Owen.
Can I come home?
Lily’s chest tightened.
She replied:
Where are you?
Aunt Claire’s. Mom crying. She says Dad hates us.
Lily closed her eyes.
Vivian’s choices had hurt her.
But Owen was ten.
He had not forged anything.
He had not sent anyone away.
Lily typed:
Dad doesn’t hate you. I don’t either.
Three dots appeared.
Then:
Mom says you do.
Lily stared at the screen.
Vivian was still turning other people’s feelings into weapons.
May you like
Only now she was using her own son.
---
