Chương 10
“You did not cause Nina’s choices,” Simone said.
“I trained myself not to see them.”
“That may be true.”
“You’re not supposed to agree that quickly.”
“I am not here to manage your self-esteem.”
Elise took another sip and made a face.
Simone glanced at the cup. “Then stop drinking it.”
“I paid two dollars.”
“That money is gone.”
Elise dropped the cup into a trash can.
When the meeting resumed, Nina described altered reports, hidden meetings, and pressure from Grant. She also admitted signing program certifications she believed were misleading.
The notebooks contained two references to Wren.
One read: G says Wren keeps L calm.
Another: M worried Wren can’t cover November.
“Who is G?” Simone asked.
“Grant.”
“M is Martin?”
“Yes.”
“L is Lucinda?”
Nina nodded.
“What is Wren?”
“I never knew.”
Priya found the answer eleven days later.
Wren Administrative Trust was controlled through an attorney in Connecticut. Bank records obtained by investigators—not by Priya—were shown to Elise during a follow-up interview. The trust had paid premiums on life insurance policies, property taxes on the Maine house, and debt obligations tied to Bellamy Holdings.
It had also sent $730,000 to Grant over two years, labeled as loan reimbursements.
Grant had personally benefited.
The investigator across from Elise did not tell her whether charges were coming. He asked about Grant’s knowledge of the payments and showed her three emails.
In the first, Martin warned Grant that foundation transfers were becoming difficult to justify.
In the second, Grant replied: Mother says use Wren until the hotel sale closes.
In the third, sent six months later, Grant wrote: Elise is reviewing Arbor. Stop routing approvals through her account.
Elise read the final line twice.
He knew someone had used her credentials.
He knew before she confronted him.
“May I have a copy?” she asked.
“No.”
“Will this become public?”
“I can’t discuss that.”
“Did you find it in Grant’s phone?”
“I can’t discuss sources.”
The investigator moved to another question.
Elise answered, but part of her remained fixed on the email.
Stop routing approvals through her account.
Not because it was wrong.
Because she was looking.
Grant called Daniel that evening and asked to speak with Elise about resolving the property case.
Daniel refused direct contact and proposed attorney-to-attorney communication.
Grant’s lawyer responded that Grant had information relevant to the foundation investigation and would share it only if Elise agreed to a confidential meeting.
Simone opposed the meeting.
“He is represented,” she said. “You are represented. There are active investigations. Nothing useful requires the two of you in a room.”
“He may talk to me when he won’t talk to lawyers,” Elise said.
“That is not a compliment to either of you.”
Daniel agreed with Simone.
Elise insisted.
The meeting took place in Daniel’s office with four attorneys present. Grant entered through a separate door to comply with the modified no-contact arrangement approved for the meeting.
He looked thinner. His navy suit hung slightly loose at the shoulders. He wore no tie, which Elise had seen only on weekends and during the first hour of their marriage, before Lucinda sent someone upstairs with the correct one for photographs.
Grant sat opposite Elise.
For several seconds, no one spoke.
Then he said, “You cut your hair.”
She had trimmed two inches.
“You broke my laptop.”
One of Grant’s attorneys leaned forward. “We are not here to relitigate disputed facts concerning the residence.”
Grant ignored him.
“I didn’t know you were home.”
“You texted asking whether I was home.”
“I thought you had gone to the hotel.”
“I went after you broke in.”
His attorney touched Grant’s sleeve.
Grant pulled his arm away.
“I need to speak to her,” he said.
“You are speaking to her,” Simone replied.
Grant looked at Elise. “My mother is going to say I acted alone.”
Elise kept her face still.
“She authorized everything,” he said. “Arbor. Wren. The rent. All of it.”
“Then tell investigators.”
“I need assurances.”
“From me?”
“You started this.”
“No. I found it.”
“You downloaded the records.”
“You moved the money.”
His face tightened. “You signed payments.”
“I know.”
That surprised him.
“You know they have your approvals?”
“I gave them the records.”
“Even those?”
“Yes.”
Grant looked toward his attorneys. One of them stared down at a legal pad.
“You were always terrible at protecting yourself,” he said.
“And you were excellent at it until you smashed a computer on camera.”
Daniel said, “Let us focus.”
Grant leaned back. His hands were empty without the phone or watch. Elise wondered whether the watch had been seized, sold, or simply left at home.
“My mother told me the transfers were temporary,” he said. “Bellamy Holdings had debt after the hotel project failed. If lenders called it, thousands of employees could be affected. She said the foundation had reserves sitting idle while the company faced a short-term gap.”
“How short?” Elise asked.
“A quarter. Then two. Then the market turned.”
“So you kept taking.”
“We were paying it back.”
“You weren’t.”
“We intended to.”
“With what?”
“The hotel sale. Asset refinancing. I don’t know.”
Grant rubbed one thumb over the other, a habit Elise remembered from mediation.
“When did Arbor begin?” Simone asked.
Grant’s attorney said, “My client is not answering investigative questions without an agreement.”
Grant looked only at Elise.
“I can give them Lucinda,” he said. “Her instructions. Her voice messages. Notes from meetings. But I need you to state that the payments you approved were routine and that I never told you anything improper.”
“The first part is true from my perspective then. The second is incomplete.”
“I never said, ‘Elise, help me steal money.’”
“You told me not to look at Arbor.”
“I told you to take time away because we were divorcing.”
“You used my credentials.”
His eyes shifted.
There it was. A movement smaller than confession and more honest.
“Grant.”
“I did not personally log in.”
“Who did?”
May you like
“Martin had access.”
“My password was not Martin’s to use.”
