Chương 8
Camille withdrew her hand.
Color rose along her throat.
For a moment, Livia saw the bride from the ballroom again, the woman who had smiled when the black card appeared. Then Camille’s shoulders lowered.
“I am not asking you to forgive me,” she said.
“What are you asking?”
“Tell the board I did not know the card was planted.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know your wedding vendors were paid through the trust?”
“No.”
“Did you ask your mother to remove me from the reception?”
Camille looked away.
Livia waited.
“I told her you were trying to ruin the wedding,” Camille said. “I told her I wanted you gone.”
“Why?”
“Because Nathan had been taking your calls. Because Adrian kept leaving family events to talk to you. Because every time funding came up, everyone became quiet when I entered the room. I thought you were holding something over them.”
“And that made searching me acceptable.”
“No.” Camille’s answer came quickly. Then, more quietly, “It made it convenient.”
The honesty surprised them both.
Camille folded the sunglasses and held them between her fingers. “There is a second card.”
Livia did not move.
“What second card?”
“The printout showed two entries. Yours at eleven forty-two and another credential at eleven forty-seven. The second number was covered with black marker.”
“Who gave you the printout?”
“Adrian.”
Livia’s hand tightened around the edge of the door.
“When?”
“Friday morning. He said you had entered the office after he warned you to stay away.”
“That is not possible.”
“He had the page.”
“Did he say where he got it?”
“He said internal security.”
“Why would Adrian give you evidence against me?”
Camille looked at her with something close to pity.
“Because my mother asked him to.”
After Camille left, Livia stood in the hallway until the elevator doors closed.
Then she called Adrian.
He did not answer.
She called again.
On the third attempt, he picked up.
“Did you give Camille an access log with my name on it?”
Silence.
“Answer me.”
“Yes.”
The word was nearly inaudible.
“Was it real?”
“The credential number was tied to your old profile.”
“That is not what I asked.”
“The entry was real. The profile assignment was changed.”
“By whom?”
“I don’t know.”
“You gave her a falsified record.”
“I gave her a page Eleanor’s office produced. I told Camille it required verification.”
“You told her I entered the office.”
“I said the credential registered under your name.”
“Where were you Thursday at eleven forty-two?”
“At home.”
“With me.”
“Yes.”
“So you knew it was false.”
“I knew you had not used it.”
The room shifted around her.
She sat on the edge of the sofa.
“Why?”
Adrian breathed into the phone. Somewhere behind him, a door closed.
“Eleanor said Camille needed to understand the risk before the wedding. She believed you might confront the family publicly.”
“I had promised you I would wait.”
“I know.”
“You used something you knew was false because I might break a promise you were already using to protect fraud.”
“I was trying to control Camille. If she believed there was a security issue, she would stop asking Nathan questions.”
“She emptied my bag.”
“I did not know Eleanor would follow through.”
“You keep separating what you intended from what you made possible.”
“I am trying to tell you the truth.”
“No. You are giving me each piece when I discover it.”
He did not deny that.
Livia lowered her voice. “Who changed the credential assignment?”
“I can find out.”
“You said that about the inventory.”
“My access was suspended Monday.”
“You were fired?”
“Placed on leave.”
She absorbed this without satisfaction.
Adrian continued. “My lawyer has the original system export. I downloaded it after the reception.”
“Why didn’t you send it to Mara?”
“Because it shows my login accessing the security database.”
“You altered it?”
“No. I viewed the changes. The audit history shows Eleanor’s executive assistant reassigned the spare card to your old profile at ten fifty-eight Thursday night.”
“Send it.”
“My lawyer advised me not to distribute internal records.”
“Of course he did.”
“If I provide it formally to the board’s investigators, it will be preserved.”
“Then do that.”
“I need an agreement regarding my cooperation.”
Livia laughed softly.
She had not expected the sound.
“An agreement.”
“I could be accused of participating.”
“You did participate.”
“I did not know funds were being used for personal expenses when the first transfers occurred.”
“But you knew before you handed Camille the log.”
“Yes.”
“And before you revised my confession.”
“Yes.”
The baby shifted beneath Livia’s ribs. She rested her palm there.
Adrian said, “I am trying not to lose the ability to support our daughter.”
It was the first time he had used the baby to defend himself.
Livia’s disappointment became clean and cold.
“Do not make her responsible for your courage.”
She ended the call.
The board meeting took place in the trust’s conference room above the east gallery, the same room where Eleanor had threatened her. Mara sat beside Livia. Across the table, Eleanor wore charcoal wool and the pearl necklace from the wedding. Camille did not attend. Nathan’s chair remained empty. Adrian appeared by video with his attorney, his face divided into digital squares whenever the connection weakened.
Seven trustees occupied the remaining seats. Three had known Eleanor for more than twenty years. One had been her college roommate. Another chaired a bank that held Rowan House debt. Their concern was real, but it did not make them neutral.
The board chair, Dr. Samuel Greene, began by asking everyone to avoid inflammatory language.
Mara slid the demand letter across the table.
“You called my client a thief in a public statement.”
Outside counsel objected to the characterization.
May you like
For forty minutes, they discussed procedure.
Livia watched rain travel down the windows behind Eleanor. A custodian entered quietly to adjust the thermostat, apologized, and left. Coffee cooled in white cups. Someone’s laptop charger stretched across the carpet in a way that made everyone step carefully when they stood.
