Chapter 13 - The Investigation
The independent board investigation began immediately.
Daniel was ordered to preserve all company records.
He complied publicly.
Privately, he panicked.
Victor Hale stopped answering his calls.
Vanessa retained an attorney.
Chloe provided the phone.
Mercer Strategic's auditors requested seven years of transaction records.
Daniel suddenly found himself surrounded by people asking questions he had avoided for years.
Michael refused to see him.
Rebecca communicated only through attorneys.
For the first time in decades, Daniel had nowhere to perform.
No audience.
No admirer.
No wife cleaning up the emotional wreckage behind him.
He sat alone in a furnished rental on the Upper East Side staring at a photograph from Michael's childhood.
Rebecca had taken it at a baseball game.
Daniel had not been there.
He had forgotten why.
A client meeting.
A flight delay.
Some crisis that had seemed critical at the time.
Now he could not even remember the client.
He remembered Michael's disappointed face when he came home.
Rebecca had told him.
“It's okay.”
She had always said that.
It's okay.
Daniel had mistaken those words for forgiveness.
Perhaps they had only been exhaustion.
Across town, Rebecca met Michael for lunch.
He barely touched his food.
“Are they going to arrest Dad?”
Rebecca chose her answer carefully.
“I don't know.”
Michael stared at the table.
“Did he steal?”
“He used company money without proper approval.”
“That sounds like stealing.”
Rebecca did not defend Daniel.
Michael looked up.
“Is Lily really my sister?”
Rebecca's chest tightened.
“Yes.”
Michael sat back.
“How long have you known?”
“A few days.”
“Does she know about me?”
“I don't know.”
Michael shook his head.
“This is insane.”
Rebecca reached across the table.
“I know.”
He looked at her.
“Do you hate her?”
“Lily?”
“Yes.”
Rebecca answered immediately.
“No.”
Michael seemed relieved.
“She didn't choose any of this.”
“No.”
He looked away.
“Neither did I.”
Rebecca squeezed his hand.
“No.”
Later that afternoon, Margaret called.
“The regulators requested an interview with Daniel.”
Rebecca stopped walking.
“When?”
“Next week.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means the internal investigation found enough inconsistencies that outside authorities want answers.”
Rebecca stood on the sidewalk while pedestrians moved around her.
This was no longer a marital collapse.
It was a public one.
Margaret continued.
“There is another issue.”
Rebecca closed her eyes.
“Of course there is.”
“The board wants you to consider an interim leadership role.”
Rebecca opened her eyes.
“What?”
“They need someone representing the major creditor group while they stabilize the company.”
“I don't run Mercer Strategic.”
“You understand its finances better than Daniel apparently did.”
Rebecca almost laughed.
Margaret continued.
“Thomas supports it.”
Rebecca looked toward the towers above Madison Avenue.
For twenty-three years, Daniel had treated business as his kingdom.
Rebecca had been expected to attend dinners, smile at clients, and never ask difficult questions.
Now the kingdom was collapsing.
And the board wanted her inside.
May you like
Rebecca took a long breath.
“Tell them I'll meet.”
