Chapter 13 - The People Who Built the Lie
Daniel Voss looked smaller without a boardroom.
His deposition took place in a plain conference room under fluorescent lights.
Adrian attended only because company counsel requested his presence for portions involving Shaw Meridian.
Daniel wore a gray suit.
No tie.
His attorney sat close enough to touch his sleeve.
Evelyn sat across from him.
“So,” outside counsel began, “who created Harbor Crest?”
Daniel looked at his hands.
“I did.”
The words were strangely anticlimactic.
“Who authorized fraudulent invoices?”
“I did.”
“Who received proceeds?”
“My entities. Entities associated with Claire. Two outside participants.”
“Did Adrian Shaw knowingly authorize fraudulent payments?”
Daniel hesitated.
“No.”
Adrian did not move.
“Did you attempt to make it appear that he had?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Daniel’s mouth tightened.
“Because if anyone looked, somebody needed to be responsible.”
“And you chose your CEO.”
“He signed the master agreement.”
“That does not answer the question.”
Daniel looked toward Adrian.
For years Daniel had complained privately that Adrian received the credit for victories and spread blame for failures.
Now resentment surfaced without disguise.
“He got to be the visionary,” Daniel said. “I got to be the man telling him whether the vision could be paid for.”
Adrian said nothing.
Daniel continued.
“He would walk into a room, say we were buying something impossible, and everyone would clap when I found a way. When there were problems, finance was negative. Legal was slow. Compliance was bureaucracy.”
Evelyn asked, “So you stole eight million dollars?”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“No. I stole because I wanted money. Don’t make resentment sound noble.”
For the first time, Adrian respected something Daniel said.
A motive was not an excuse.
Outside counsel asked about Claire.
Daniel looked away.
“She wanted security.”
“You helped her create hidden assets.”
“Yes.”
“Did you encourage her to abuse Emma?”
“No.”
“Did you know she was using harsh punishment?”
“I knew she was controlling.”
“That is not the question.”
Daniel’s voice sharpened.
“I never saw her hit that child.”
“Did Claire tell you Emma had seen the folder?”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell Claire to control the problem?”
“Yes.”
“What did you mean?”
“To keep Emma from telling Adrian.”
“How?”
“I didn’t ask.”
“Why not?”
Daniel looked down.
Because not asking had been useful.
The same disease again.
Privacy as permission.
Ambiguity as shelter.
Outside counsel placed Thomas’s video still on the table.
“Did you imagine this?”
Daniel’s face changed.
“No.”
“If you had known?”
“I would have stopped it.”
Adrian spoke for the first time.
“You knew enough to ask.”
Daniel looked at him.
“You knew enough to ask too.”
Silence.
Evelyn turned toward Adrian, perhaps expecting anger.
Adrian only nodded.
“Yes.”
Daniel had wanted the sentence to wound him.
Instead, Adrian accepted it.
That seemed to disturb Daniel more.
The deposition continued.
He admitted the restructuring plan.
The draft estate documents.
The intention to use Adrian’s corporate scandal to weaken his control.
But Daniel claimed Claire developed the family-court strategy herself.
“She understood Adrian’s weakness better than I did.”
“What weakness?”
“Emma.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
Daniel corrected himself.
“Not Emma herself. His guilt about Emma. Claire said if Adrian ever believed he had failed his daughter, he would stop fighting everything else.”
Claire had predicted him correctly.
She simply had not predicted Thomas.
Or Emma’s hidden evidence.
Or that Adrian would eventually decide losing power was survivable.
After the deposition, Evelyn joined Adrian in the hallway.
“The board would like you to remain a nonexecutive director after a governance review.”
Adrian looked at her.
“I thought you fired me.”
“We fired you as CEO.”
“Do they want me because of my voting shares?”
“They want your experience without your habits.”
He almost smiled.
“That’s brutal.”
“It’s accurate.”
Adrian looked through the glass at Daniel.
“What would you do?”
“I’d stop asking everyone else what to do.”
Adrian nodded.
Fair.
Daniel was taken into custody after the proceeding on a revised set of charges.
As deputies approached, he looked once toward Adrian.
“You’re still rich,” Daniel said.
Adrian said nothing.
“You still have the company shares. The house. Your name.”
“No.”
Daniel frowned.
Adrian continued.
“I have shares.”
Then he walked away.
At Rachel’s house, Emma was waiting with a question.
“Is Mr. Voss going away?”
“For a while, probably.”
“Is Claire?”
“I don’t know exactly what the judge will decide.”
Emma twisted the rabbit.
“Do I have to see her?”
“No.”
“Ever?”
“No one is going to force you to have a relationship with her.”
Emma exhaled.
Adrian noticed she had been holding her breath.
Then Rachel handed him an envelope.
“It came through Claire’s attorney.”
Adrian stiffened.
“For me?”
Rachel shook her head.
“For Emma.”
Adrian did not open it.
“What does it say?”
“I don’t know.”
“Should we give it to her?”
“That’s for her therapist and the court to decide.”
Adrian looked at the envelope.
Months earlier he might have opened it immediately.
He would have told himself he was protecting Emma.
Now he understood that protecting someone did not mean controlling every piece of information around them.
He handed it back.
“Let the therapist decide.”
Rachel studied him.
Then nodded.
The next morning Marcus called.
“Claire has agreed to plead guilty.”
Adrian sat down.
“To what?”
“Child-abuse offenses and financial conspiracy charges. The final terms are being presented to the judge.”
“Did she ask for anything?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“To speak before sentencing.”
Adrian looked toward the pergola visible from his hotel window only in memory.
“About herself?”
Marcus paused.
“No.”
May you like
“Then who?”
“Emma.”
