Chapter 7 - The Audit
The independent audit lasted five weeks.
Each discovery was worse than the last.
Daniel had not only used company funds for personal expenses. He had secretly transferred money from profitable departments into Whitmore Premier Events to hide its losses.
He had signed contracts with businesses connected to Vanessa’s friends, paying far above market rates.
One decorating company had received ninety thousand dollars without completing a single event.
Vanessa had received consulting fees through a private company she created six months earlier.
The documentation described her services as brand development and strategic networking.
Her work consisted mainly of hosting parties.
When Margaret saw the evidence, she asked Ellen a question she had avoided.
“Is this criminal?”
“It could be considered fraud or embezzlement. The attorneys are reviewing it.”
Margaret felt physically ill.
She had expected irresponsibility, not deliberate deception.
Daniel requested a private meeting.
They met in Margaret’s office on a rainy Thursday afternoon.
He looked exhausted. His expensive suit was wrinkled, and dark shadows showed beneath his eyes.
“Vanessa is leaving me,” he said.
Margaret remained silent.
“She took the children to her parents’ house.”
“I spoke to Sophie yesterday. They are safe.”
Daniel sat across from her.
“Is that all you care about?”
“The children are the only people in this situation who did not create it.”
He looked toward the warehouse through the office window.
“Dad wanted me to have this company.”
“Your father wanted you to earn responsibility.”
“He would never have humiliated me like this.”
Margaret’s expression hardened.
“You stood beside your wife while she treated me like an animal.”
Daniel flinched.
“I made a mistake.”
“You made hundreds of choices.”
“It was one dinner.”
“No. The dinner only showed me what I had refused to see.”
Daniel rubbed his face.
“I need help.”
“You have received help your entire adult life.”
“I could go to prison.”
The word hung between them.
Margaret’s heart twisted. He was still her child in some part of her mind. She remembered holding his hand on his first day of school and sitting beside his hospital bed when he broke his arm.
But love could not erase what he had done.
“What do you expect me to do?” she asked.
“Tell the board it was a misunderstanding. Say you approved the expenses.”
“That would be a lie.”
“You’re my mother.”
“Yes.”
“Then protect me.”
Margaret rose and walked toward the window.
“When you were six, you stole a toy from a store. Do you remember?”
Daniel shook his head.
“Your father made you return it and apologize. You cried all the way there. I wanted to buy the toy for you instead, but your father said something I never forgot.”
She turned back.
“He said saving a child from every consequence does not protect him. It teaches him that consequences belong to other people.”
Daniel’s eyes filled with anger.
“So you’re going to destroy me to teach me a lesson?”
“No. You damaged the company. You lied to the board. You used money that was not yours. I am simply refusing to hide what you did.”
“Please, Mom.”
May you like
Margaret’s voice broke slightly.
“I love you, Daniel. But I will not become dishonest to prove it.”
