Chapter 6 - THE SIGNATURE THAT COULD DESTROY HIM
Gabriel stared at the screen.
His name.
His title.
His authorization.
Nearly three million dollars had moved out of restricted charitable accounts.
And the records made it look as though he had approved everything.
“I never authorized these transfers.”
Beatrice remained calm.
“Then we need to understand how your authority was used.”
Gabriel leaned forward.
“Can you prove I didn't sign?”
“Not by assuming the records are wrong.”
She enlarged the transaction history.
“Do you recognize this authorization code?”
Gabriel read it.
Then his expression changed.
“Yes.”
“When did you approve it?”
He closed his eyes.
“After Isabella supposedly died.”
Beatrice waited.
Gabriel remembered those weeks.
He barely slept.
He stopped attending dinners.
He sat alone in his house, staring at the piano Isabella had once played.
Meredith had brought him stacks of paperwork.
She said the foundation needed temporary emergency authority because he wasn't in any condition to manage its daily operations.
He signed a resolution allowing limited transactions to continue under her supervision.
He hadn't examined the restrictions closely enough.
“Meredith told me it would keep the programs running,” he said.
Beatrice nodded slowly.
“Then your approval may have given her the authority she needed to move funds without obtaining a separate signature each time.”
Gabriel rubbed his forehead.
“I handed her the keys.”
“You gave her responsibility,” Beatrice corrected. “That doesn't excuse misuse. But the board will ask why you didn't supervise it.”
Gabriel looked toward Isabella's photograph on the desk.
“I was grieving.”
“I understand.”
“That won't be enough.”
“No,” Beatrice said gently. “It won't.”
For the first time, Gabriel understood that exposing Meredith would also mean admitting his own failures.
He couldn't simply blame everything on her.
He had allowed one person to control his correspondence, business decisions, and access to information.
He had believed every explanation she'd offered.
And Isabella had paid the price.
Beatrice continued her work.
By noon, she discovered that several transfers had been used to support Harbor House, an affordable housing complex owned through North Point.
The property housed elderly residents and struggling families.
Meredith had used restricted scholarship money to cover its mounting debts.
But Beatrice couldn't yet determine where the remaining money had gone.
“Some of these payments may have kept the building operating,” she explained.
“Then why hide them?”
“Because the funds were restricted. They were donated for children's education, not property losses.”
Gabriel stood.
“Can we recover the money?”
“Possibly. But we need the underlying accounts.”
His phone displayed a message from Martin.
Isabella had been moved to a higher level of cardiac monitoring.
Gabriel left immediately.
At the hospital, Lily was drawing at a small table beside Rose.
She looked up when he entered.
“Gabriel!”
He crouched beside her.
“What are you making?”
“Our house.”
The drawing showed a yellow building.
Three people stood outside.
One had long brown hair.
One wore blue overalls.
The third was a tall figure dressed entirely in black.
Gabriel studied it.
“Who's that?”
Lily pointed.
“That's you.”
He swallowed.
“Why am I so tall?”
“Because you're big.”
He smiled.
“Fair enough.”
She handed him a blue crayon.
“You can draw the sun.”
Gabriel sat beside her.
For ten minutes, one of the most feared businessmen in New York carefully colored a crooked yellow sun.
He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so completely present.
Then Lily asked a question.
“Are you going away again?”
His hand stopped moving.
“No.”
“Mommy said people can go away even when they love you.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“Sometimes they do.”
“Will you?”
He put down the crayon.
“I won't choose to leave you, Lily.”
She considered his answer.
Then she pushed the drawing toward him.
“You can keep it.”
He folded it carefully.
Inside Isabella's room, Dr. Patel was reviewing new test results.
The medication had helped stabilize her temporarily, but the damaged valve required surgery.
There were serious risks.
Isabella listened quietly.
Gabriel sat beside her.
When the doctor left, Isabella looked toward him.
“Did you find the music?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“You were right.”
Her eyes filled.
“About Meredith?”
“About the money.”
He told her what Beatrice had discovered.
Isabella closed her eyes.
“I knew she'd blame me.”
Gabriel reached for her hand.
“I also discovered that I signed the authorization that allowed her to do it.”
Isabella looked at him for a long moment.
“Then you'll have to tell the truth about that too.”
“I know.”
“Even if it costs you?”
“Especially then.”
For the first time, she didn't pull away when he held her hand.
That evening, Gabriel returned to his office.
Martin was waiting with an envelope delivered by the foundation's corporate secretary.
Inside was a formal notice.
Meredith had called an emergency board meeting.
The agenda contained two proposals.
The first was to remove Gabriel as chairman.
The second was to sell Harbor House to a private developer.
The meeting would begin the following morning.
And seventy-three vulnerable residents could lose their homes if the sale proceeded.
Gabriel read the notice twice.
May you like
Then Beatrice pointed to the final page.
Meredith had already secured enough preliminary votes to approve both measures.
