Chapter 7 - THE PRICE OF SAVING HER BROTHER
“You signed because you were afraid of losing Owen.”
Damian looked at Nora with an expression I couldn't read.
She nodded.
“Dad said sending him away would be the only way to protect him from the family's problems.”
Michael stepped forward.
“I wanted him away from this business.”
Nora turned toward him.
“Then why did you make me choose between my brother and Grandpa's trust?”
Michael opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
The ballroom had emptied.
Only a few staff members remained, collecting wineglasses from tables beneath the chandeliers.
Scarlett stood near the doorway, looking strangely small in her expensive evening gown.
Damian spread Nora's papers across the dining table.
He examined each page carefully.
“The transfer isn't complete,” he said.
Nora looked up.
“What?”
“The signature authorizes a proposed transaction, but the trust requires approval from its independent trustees.”
Michael immediately answered.
“They've already been notified.”
“Notified isn't the same as approved.”
“Damian, you're delaying the inevitable.”
“Then you won't mind letting the trustees review the original terms.”
Michael's face hardened.
“You still think this is about beating me.”
Damian looked tired.
“No. I think it's about finally understanding what you've done.”
He turned to Vincent.
“Get the original trust records from the company archives. And contact the trustees. No transfer proceeds while ownership is disputed.”
Vincent nodded.
Michael gave a humorless laugh.
“You think that'll save everything? The loans are real. The equipment costs are real. Those workers have families.”
Damian studied him.
“Then let me see the actual losses. All of them.”
Michael hesitated.
For one brief moment, I thought he might agree.
Instead, he walked away.
Nora sank into a chair.
“I've made everything worse.”
Evelyn sat beside her.
“No, sweetheart.”
“I signed.”
“You were frightened.”
“That doesn't change what I did.”
Evelyn took her hand.
“Then we'll help you make it right.”
I quietly gathered the papers Scarlett had left on the table.
One corner of a receipt had been stained with dark blue ink.
The same shade spilled over the banquet tablecloth.
The same ink Scarlett had demanded I scrub away.
I stopped.
“Mr. Valenti?”
Damian looked over.
“I think Scarlett spilled that ink for a reason.”
He came beside me.
I held the paper under the light.
Most of the receipt was ruined.
But beneath the ink, another set of figures was visible.
The printed sale price was $7 million.
An earlier figure had been crossed out.
$4 million.
“Why would the amount change?” I asked.
Damian frowned.
He called for the auction inventory.
Vincent returned with a duplicate receipt from the auction house.
It showed the original $4 million figure.
The additional $3 million had been added later.
“Three million,” Damian said slowly.
“The amount Michael lost,” I replied.
Scarlett was standing only a few feet away.
She had heard us.
Damian faced her.
“Explain.”
Her eyes filled.
“I was trying to fix it.”
“Fix what?”
“Michael told me he needed another three million before tomorrow's closing. He said the debt would destroy the company if the payment wasn't made.”
“So you increased the collection price?”
“He paid seven million. Four covered the original acquisition and obligations. Three was supposed to be placed into a temporary reserve.”
“Where is that reserve?”
Scarlett hesitated.
“I transferred it.”
“To whom?”
She looked toward Michael.
“Westbridge Holdings.”
Damian motioned for Vincent to examine the transfer confirmations.
A few minutes later, Vincent returned.
“Westbridge received the money through a subsidiary.”
“Who owns the subsidiary?” Damian asked.
Vincent showed him the ownership record.
Damian's face changed.
Michael's name appeared beside a second investor.
A private investment firm.
Michael wasn't merely selling family assets to an outside buyer.
He had a financial interest in the company purchasing them.
Damian turned toward his brother.
“You were going to sell our terminals to a company you partly own?”
Michael looked exhausted.
“I was trying to buy time.”
“With Mother's jewelry and Nora's inheritance?”
Michael's voice rose.
“I was trying to keep what Dad built from falling apart!”
Damian stared at him.
“By taking it away from your own children?”
Michael's face hardened.
Then Nora said something unexpected.
“Dad, did Grandpa know about your debts?”
Michael froze.
She stepped closer.
“Before he died. Did he know you'd been borrowing against the harbor properties?”
Michael didn't answer.
Nora began trembling.
“I remember Grandpa arguing with you in his office.”
Evelyn looked at her.
“When?”
“The Christmas before he died.”
Nora closed her eyes.
“He told Dad something about a promise.”
Michael whispered, “Nora, enough.”
But she continued.
“Grandpa said you couldn't use us to get what you wanted.”
Damian stared at his brother.
“Michael?”
May you like
Nora looked from her father to her uncle.
“DAD TOLD GRANDPA THAT IF HE DIDN'T GIVE HIM THE HARBOR SHARES, HE'D MAKE SURE NEITHER OF HIS CHILDREN EVER BENEFITED FROM THEM.”
