I Don’t Read Between The Lines, I Only Tell The Truth Outright Chapter 06

I Don’t Read Between The Lines, I Only Tell The Truth Outright Chapter 06

Three days later, I walked into a conference room at the Weston Group. My father sat at the head of the table, all three of my brothers were there, and Daphne sat next to my mother with the locket still around her

neck.

My father’s face stiffened when he saw me. “You actually came.”

“It’s my job.”

Eli leaned back in his chair and laughed. “The family can’t get you back, but a contract can.”

I opened my laptop. “We bill this engagement by the hour. Every sentence you say right now is going on the

invoice.”

Eli stopped smiling.

My father tapped the table. “Let’s get to business.”

The Weston Group was preparing to go public, and my firm had been hired to clean up the internal books and the related-party transactions.

I put the first file up on the screen. “First item, the Daphne Weston Foundation.”

Daphne looked up. “What about my foundation?”

“Last year it raised 8.6 million dollars, and 4.1 million actually went to charitable programs. Where did the

rest go?”

My mother spoke immediately. “Daphne would never touch donated money.”

“I didn’t say she did.” I moved to the next page. “I’m asking where the other 4.5 million went.”

The finance manager wiped his forehead. “Some of it was marketing.”

“Marketing what?”

“Charity galas, celebrity endorsements, and a jewelry collaboration. The collaboration line belongs to Daphne’s personal brand.”

I looked at him. “So donated money paid for advertising her brand?”

Daphne went white. “It was a partnership.”

“The foundation put in 2.8 million. How much did your brand put in?”

She stopped.

The finance manager answered quietly. “Nothing.”

The room went silent.

Adrian frowned. “Nora, this could be somebody down the chain cutting corners.”

“Could be?” I zoomed in on the payment authorization. “That’s Daphne’s signature.”

My mother turned to her. “Daphne, did you sign this?”

Daphne stared at the screen, and her eyes slowly went red. “My assistant told me it was normal marketing. I didn’t read it closely.”

Eli spoke up without thinking. “She doesn’t understand finance.”

“Which is exactly why there’s an audit.” I capped my pen. “Freeze the foundation’s accounts. Recover the 2.8

million. Everyone involved sits for an interview.”

My father’s voice dropped. “Fix it internally. There’s no need to make this bigger than it is.”

“I wasn’t hired to cover the Weston books.”

“Nora.”

“Mr. Weston.” I raised my eyes to his. “These are business hours.”

His face darkened, and he didn’t say anything else.

The finance manager handed me another document. “Ms. Weston, there’s one more payment.”

I looked down at it. The foundation had paid 600 thousand dollars to a consulting firm, and the name signed

on the authorizing line was mine.

Eli sat straight up. “How do you explain that one?”

Even Daphne looked startled. “Nora, didn’t you say you’d never touched the foundation?”

I looked at the signature. The handwriting looked like mine, and whoever wrote it had even copied the way I looped the tail on the last letter.

A copy of my passport was attached to the document.

My mother’s face changed. “Nora, that’s your ID.”

“It is.”

“Then this money?”

“I didn’t sign for it.”

Eli smirked. “You went after everybody else pretty hard. Your turn comes and all you’ve got is no?”

I picked the page up and held it toward the light. “This copy has the same crease in the bottom right corner

that the original has. The original sits in the study at the house, and I’ve never taken it out of there.” I looked at Daphne. “You’re the only other person who knows where it’s kept.”

Her fingers curled tight. “Nora, what are you saying?”

“I’m saying this.” I pushed the page across the table to her. “Don’t cry this time. Explain it first.”