Chương 8
“The board suspended Vivian this morning,” he said.
“The foundation board?”
“Yes.”
“You’re on it?”
“Not officially.”
“That word again.”
He accepted the criticism. “I financed the foundation’s shortfall last year. I have influence.”
“How large was the shortfall?”
“Just over three million dollars.”
Maya stared at him.
“The invoice I saw was two hundred eighty-six thousand.”
“It was one of eleven questionable payments.”
“Questionable?”
“Payments routed through vendors that did not provide the services described.”
“Where did the money go?”
“We are still tracing it.”
“You knew this three months ago.”
“I knew the foundation’s numbers did not reconcile.”
“And you held the auction anyway.”
Daniel looked toward Priya, then back at Maya. “The foundation funds hospitality scholarships for forty-two students. Canceling the event without proof would have triggered lender concerns, donor withdrawals, and likely insolvency.”
“So you protected it.”
“I tried to determine what happened without destroying the organization first.”
“And Vivian knew you were investigating.”
“She suspected.”
“Did you ask me about the invoice at the breakfast?”
“No. I asked about the coffee billing.”
“Claire said Vivian thought I gave it to you.”
“I did not know you had seen it until the night of the auction.”
Maya believed him, which did not make her less angry.
“Why did you increase security around the brooch?”
“The insurer discovered an appraisal discrepancy.”
“What kind?”
“The brooch had been appraised twice in eighteen months. The valuations differed by almost forty percent.”
“Was it fake?”
“No. The police confirmed the stones and setting matched the consignment report.”
“Then what was the discrepancy?”
“The first appraiser worked through one of the questionable vendors.”
Priya leaned forward. “Mr. Cross, are you suggesting the inflated appraisal was part of the foundation’s financial misconduct?”
“I’m saying it may have been.”
Maya thought of the brooch glowing in her open clutch. Vivian had not chosen a random object. She had chosen an item already tied to the records Daniel was examining.
“What did she plan to do after accusing me?”
Daniel’s face tightened.
“I don’t know.”
“You’re her husband.”
“I am aware.”
“That wasn’t an answer.”
He looked down at his hands. “Vivian told her attorney she intended to frighten you into admitting you photographed the invoice.”
“With a theft accusation?”
“She says she planned to stop the police from being called. She would claim she had made a mistake, recover the brooch, and offer to handle the matter privately if you deleted the photograph.”
Maya stared at him.
“She thought she could accuse me in front of two hundred people and then take it back privately?”
“Yes.”
“Do you believe that?”
“I believe she may believe it now.”
Priya wrote something.
Daniel continued. “She has also said she was under extreme stress, that she had not slept, and that medication affected her judgment.”
“Did medication put the brooch in my clutch?”
“No.”
“Did stress choose my bag?”
“No.”
“Did lack of sleep tell Claire to send me away?”
“No.”
His answers came quietly, without defense.
Maya found that almost unbearable.
“Why are you here?”
Daniel folded his hands. “To ask what you need from the hotel.”
“Your lawyers already asked. They put a price on it.”
“That offer was withdrawn.”
“Because it was insulting?”
“Because I told them to withdraw it.”
Priya said, “A public correction naming Vivian, reinstatement, compensation for the leave and reputational harm, independent review of the hotel’s response, protection for cooperating employees, and preservation of all evidence.”
Daniel nodded. “Most of that is possible.”
“Most?” Maya asked.
“The public statement is difficult while the court order remains in place.”
“You can name the person who accused me without releasing the footage.”
“Vivian will sue.”
“She already ruined my name.”
“I know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because there is no sentence I can give you that makes what happened smaller.”
Maya looked at him for a long moment.
“What did you lose?”
The question surprised him.
“My wife is under criminal investigation. The foundation may collapse. Our lenders are reviewing covenants. The hotel’s reputation—”
“No. What did you lose before the auction?”
Daniel’s eyes shifted toward the window.
Priya stopped writing.
Finally he said, “My father built an investment firm by purchasing distressed properties and removing the people who had run them badly. I spent twenty years telling myself I was different because I kept the names on the buildings.”
Maya waited.
“When I invested in the Halcyon, Vivian’s family still owned a minority share. Her mother had died. The hotel was failing. Vivian believed saving the building would save what was left of her family.”
“And you believed marrying her would make the deal less ugly?”
His jaw tightened.
“We were married before the investment.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Daniel almost smiled. It vanished quickly.
“I believed love could make our interests the same.”
“Did it?”
“No.”
The room went quiet.
Maya looked at his silver watch. She had seen it against his cuff while Vivian accused her. She wondered how many meetings Daniel had attended wearing it, how many risks he had measured while other people carried them.
“You protected the foundation because you were protecting your marriage,” she said.
“I protected it because forty-two students depended on it.”
“And your marriage.”
“Yes.”
“And the hotel.”
“Yes.”
“And your investment.”
“Yes.”
Each answer cost him less than the first.
“What did you protect me from?”
Daniel had no answer.
Maya stood.
“I want the truth in writing. Not just that I was cleared. I want the hotel to say what happened, who did it, and what the hotel did afterward. I want Everett and Claire protected for preserving evidence. I want the foundation books audited by someone you don’t choose. I want the employees who lost shifts because the auction was canceled paid in full.”
Daniel looked up. “That last demand has already been approved.”
“Good.”
“The others will require board action.”
“Then use your influence.”
“I will.”
May you like
“And I’m not resigning.”
He nodded slowly. “Your position remains yours.”
