Chapter 4 - THE SECRET HE WAS HIRED TO KEEP
I stared at the photograph.
My first reaction was disbelief.
My second was anger.
My third was something colder.
Gregory watched me.
“I didn't write that.”
“Who did?”
“I don't know.”
“You kept the photograph.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because it was sent to me anonymously.”
I looked at the picture again.
Six years ago, I had arrived at headquarters for the first time after my father's death.
I had stayed less than twenty minutes.
I had never met Gregory that day.
At least, I didn't remember doing so.
“What does it mean?”
Gregory looked exhausted.
“It means someone was watching you.”
“Who?”
“I never found out.”
Diane stepped forward.
“You told me the photograph came from Charles.”
“I suspected it.”
“You never told me that.”
“I didn't want to involve you.”
Diane laughed softly.
“You involved me the moment you married me.”
Her words landed harder than she intended.
I understood something then.
Diane hadn't simply been humiliating.
She had spent years living beside a man who kept parts of his life behind locked doors.
That did not excuse how she treated me.
But it gave the marriage more shape than I had assumed.
I pointed to the photograph.
“When did you realize I owned sixty-two percent?”
Gregory answered immediately.
“The day I became CEO.”
That surprised me.
“You always knew?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did your wife treat me like catering staff?”
Diane closed her eyes.
“Because Gregory never told me.”
I looked at him.
“Why not?”
He finally said the truth.
“Because I was afraid you would replace me.”
The room went silent.
I had expected greed.
I had expected manipulation.
I had not expected fear.
“You were afraid of me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your father told me something before he died.”
“What?”
Gregory sat down.
“He said if I ever lost your trust, he would remove me.”
“My father was dead by the time you became CEO.”
“He knew that.”
Gregory looked at the floor.
“He believed you would eventually return.”
I thought of the years I had spent away from the company.
I had built my own life.
Raised Zoey.
Avoided corporate politics.
I had assumed Gregory was simply running the company.
Maybe my absence had allowed him to believe he was safe.
Paul asked, “Did your father give him authority over your shares?”
“No.”
“Then why were you worried?”
Gregory looked at me.
“Because I thought you would judge me by one bad year.”
I shook my head.
“One bad year doesn't explain six years.”
“No.”
He looked at the Northstar file.
“That's the part I can't defend.”
I appreciated that he finally stopped trying.
Lena cleared her throat.
“There is still one missing piece.”
She placed another folder on the desk.
“Where did the twenty-eight million actually go?”
Gregory stared at the numbers.
“Working capital.”
“That was the explanation.”
“Yes.”
“The records don't match.”
He looked up.
“What do you mean?”
“Five million was transferred to Northstar.”
“Because we needed inventory.”
“Then another six million went out.”
“For consulting.”
“Then where are the consulting deliverables?”
Gregory didn't answer.
Lena looked at me.
“We have payments, but no corresponding work product.”
I turned to Gregory.
“Did Michael actually provide services?”
“Yes.”
“What services?”
He hesitated.
Diane answered for him.
“He helped Gregory manage a private crisis.”
Everyone looked at her.
“What crisis?”
Diane looked at Gregory.
“You told me it was about the company.”
Gregory's face tightened.
“It was.”
“No.”
Diane slowly shook her head.
“You told me someone was threatening to expose you.”
My stomach tightened.
“Expose what?”
Gregory looked at me.
“Not me.”
“Then who?”
He didn't answer.
Diane did.
“His father.”
I stared.
“What?”
“Gregory had discovered something about his father's final years.”
Gregory closed his eyes.
“He doesn't need to know.”
I felt something shift.
“Who?”
“My father had been siphoning money.”
Paul looked shocked.
“From the company?”
Gregory nodded.
“And you covered it up?”
“I was trying to determine how much.”
“How much?”
“Thirty-six million.”
Nobody spoke.
Lena sat back.
“Thirty-six million missing?”
“Over several years.”
“Then Northstar?”
Gregory looked at me.
“I used Michael to trace the money.”
I stared at the files.
Suddenly the transfers looked different.
Not innocent.
Not justified.
But different.
Gregory had not invented the problem.
He had hidden it.
And in hiding it, he had created another.
“You could have told the board.”
“I was afraid the company would collapse.”
“You could have told me.”
“You weren't here.”
That sentence hurt more than it should have.
Because it was true.
I had walked away.
I had assumed someone else would protect what my family had built.
Still, secrecy had consequences.
I turned toward the door.
Then I saw something on Gregory's desk.
A child's drawing.
Crayon.
A yellow sun.
A little house.
And four stick figures.
I recognized the handwriting.
Zoey had drawn it for me two weeks earlier.
“What is that doing here?”
Gregory froze.
“I found it in the lobby.”
“Why keep it?”
He picked it up carefully.
“Because she drew the company building.”
I looked at the picture.
Zoey had written one word beneath it.
HOME.
Gregory swallowed.
“She said someday she wanted to visit the place Mommy works.”
I stared at him.
Then I understood why seeing Diane's behavior with Zoey had affected him.
He knew.
He knew exactly how innocent she was.
I reached for the drawing.
Gregory handed it to me.
“Eleanor.”
I stopped.
“There is something else you need to know.”
“What?”
He looked toward the hallway.
“Michael was never the person I was afraid of.”
He lowered his voice.
“He was afraid too.”
I turned.
“Afraid of whom?”
May you like
Gregory looked at the photograph hidden in the brass clock.
“The person who knew about your father's money before either of us did.”
