Chapter 13 - Margaret’s Exit Plan
“Where did the money go?” Daniel asked.
Margaret picked up her purse.
No one stopped her.
Dana simply said, “Leaving will not improve your position.”
Margaret laughed bitterly. “My position? I spent thirty years cleaning up after men who thought they were geniuses.”
Daniel stared at her. “Answer me.”
“You needed liquidity.”
“You wired six hundred thousand offshore.”
“I protected it.”
“For who?”
Margaret looked at him.
Not me.
Not Lily.
Him.
“For you.”
Daniel shook his head. “I never told you to do that.”
“No. You only told me Harbor Ridge would collapse if Emily got control of the trust.”
I felt every eye in the room shift toward Daniel.
He rubbed his face.
“That is not what I said.”
Margaret’s restraint finally cracked.
“You said she was becoming suspicious. You said she might call her father. You said if she froze the guarantee, everything was over.”
“I said we needed time.”
“So I bought time.”
“With stolen money?”
Her face hardened. “Do not pretend you suddenly have morals because she found the paperwork.”
Silence.
It was the ugliest honest sentence anyone had spoken all morning.
Daniel looked at me.
For the first time, there was no practiced expression left.
Just fear.
“Emily, I did not know about the offshore transfer.”
I believed him.
That did not help him.
“You knew about everything before it,” I said.
He said nothing.
Dana’s phone buzzed.
She stepped aside, listened, then returned.
“The Cayman transfer is pending enhanced review. It hasn’t fully cleared.”
Margaret’s hand tightened around her purse strap.
Dana continued, “The receiving bank has frozen it temporarily.”
Dad let out a slow breath.
Charles looked at me. “Emily, this changes the timing.”
“How?”
“If we accelerate now, the lenders will likely begin immediate collection and asset preservation. That could help prevent further transfers.”
Daniel shook his head. “Or destroy three hundred jobs.”
There it was.
A new shield.
Employees.
Families.
People who had nothing to do with his fraud.
He stepped closer.
“You want to punish me? Fine. But Harbor Ridge employs real people. Call the debt today and payroll may fail Friday.”
I looked at Charles.
“Is he telling the truth?”
Charles didn’t answer right away.
That was enough.
May you like
Daniel saw it too.
And suddenly, the button on my laptop felt heavier than any weapon.
