Chapter 4 - The Missing Millions
Claire did not immediately sign the acceptance documents.
Part of her wanted to. Another part still heard Darlene’s voice warning that good daughters did not humiliate their mothers.
She took copies home and hid them in a locked drawer.
For two weeks, she watched.
At Bennett Hospitality headquarters, Darlene occupied Thomas’s former office. His family photographs had been removed. A large portrait of Darlene and Mia now hung behind the desk.
Mia held the title of vice president of brand expansion.
No one could explain what she actually did.
Claire began reviewing reports she had previously ignored. Occupancy remained strong across the company’s six boutique hotels, yet profit had fallen sharply.
Vendor expenses had increased.
Consulting fees had tripled.
A company-owned townhouse was listed as an executive residence, though Claire knew Mia lived there without paying rent.
The company also funded a luxury vehicle described as “regional transportation.” Mia drove it to social events.
Claire requested detailed ledgers from finance.
The chief financial officer, Martin Cole, appeared in her office twenty minutes later.
“Why do you need these records?”
“Because I’m a shareholder.”
Martin closed the door.
“Your mother said all ownership questions go through her.”
“My father left me voting shares.”
His face changed.
“Who told you that?”
Claire did not answer.
Martin lowered his voice.
“You need to be careful.”
“Why?”
He looked toward the glass wall.
“Because three months before your father died, Darlene began authorizing transfers through a consulting company called DB Strategic.”
“DB?”
“Darlene Bennett.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know the full amount.”
“You’re the CFO.”
“I was instructed to categorize the payments as executive management fees. When I objected, she threatened to replace me.”
Claire felt anger rising.
“Show me.”
Martin hesitated.
Then he opened his laptop.
The first transfer was for eighty-five thousand dollars.
The second was for one hundred twenty thousand.
There were more.
Over eighteen months, DB Strategic had received nearly nine hundred thousand dollars from Bennett Hospitality.
“What did the company provide?” Claire asked.
“Nothing that I could verify.”
“Where did the money go?”
Martin opened another report.
“Some went toward the mortgage on Mia’s townhouse. Some paid her business debts. Some went into a private investment account.”
Claire stared at the numbers.
“Why didn’t you contact the board?”
“Darlene controls the board.”
“She controls temporary appointments.”
Martin looked at her carefully.
“You really do have the voting shares.”
“Yes.”
“Then you should know something else.”
He showed her a scanned authorization dated five months earlier.
It approved the use of Claire’s sixty-thousand-dollar inheritance account as collateral for a company credit line.
At the bottom was Claire’s signature.
She had never signed it.
“That is forged,” she said.
Martin nodded.
“I thought it might be.”
“Who submitted it?”
“Your mother.”
Claire’s fear disappeared.
May you like
In its place came something colder.
Clarity.
