Chapter 7 - Chris’s Real Plan
Megan’s confession revealed that the missing company money was only part of Chris’s plan.
Northway Strategies had been created through one of his former business partners. Chris used false invoices to move company funds into hidden accounts.
At first, Megan believed the transfers were temporary.
Chris told her he was investing the money in land that Reed Residential could later purchase at a profit. When she asked for documents, he accused her of not trusting him.
By the time she realized the land did not exist, her electronic approval appeared on dozens of invoices.
Chris told her she would go to prison if Daniel discovered the truth.
He convinced her there was only one solution.
Daniel had to be removed before the audit was completed.
The temporary board resolution would place Chris in control. Once inside the company’s banking system, he planned to move the remaining money, destroy records, and blame the losses on Daniel’s poor management.
Megan insisted Chris never told her the full plan.
But text messages proved otherwise.
Three days before Thanksgiving, Chris had written:
Monday will be too late. He needs to be unable to fight the vote.
Megan replied:
What if he goes to the hospital?
Chris wrote:
That is the point.
The messages became more disturbing as Thanksgiving approached.
Megan repeatedly asked whether the substance could cause permanent harm.
Chris avoided answering.
Finally, Megan wrote:
I’ll do it once. After this, we leave the state.
Chris responded:
After this, the company is ours.
The evidence destroyed his claim that Megan had acted alone.
Yet it also destroyed Megan’s attempt to portray herself as an unwilling participant.
She had been manipulated.
She had also made a choice.
When Patricia learned the full story, she asked Daniel to persuade prosecutors to show mercy.
Daniel refused.
“I won’t ask anyone to ignore what happened.”
“She’s frightened.”
“So was Ethan.”
“She made a terrible mistake.”
“A mistake is forgetting an ingredient. This required planning.”
Patricia lowered her head.
“I failed both of you.”
Daniel’s anger softened, but only slightly.
“You kept protecting whoever created the loudest crisis. When Megan blamed me, you stayed silent. When Chris insulted Dad’s decisions, you stayed silent. When she asked for medication, you opened the cabinet.”
“I thought keeping peace would save the family.”
“You didn’t keep peace. You gave dishonesty room to grow.”
Patricia wiped her eyes.
“Will you ever forgive me?”
“I don’t know.”
The answer hurt them both, but Daniel would not offer forgiveness simply to make the moment easier.
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For the first time in his life, he understood that peace without truth was only silence.
And silence had nearly put his child in the hospital.
