She studied him.
“Are you going to believe me?”
Alexander looked toward the lounge, where Oliver slept beneath a blanket.
“Tonight, someone finally listened to my son. I’d be ashamed if I couldn’t do the same for you.”
Hannah opened her phone.
Within minutes, the photograph was in the hands of Alexander’s legal team.
By midnight, an emergency review of the foundation’s accounts had begun.
By morning, Alexander knew the problem was far worse than a missing donation.
Caroline had authorized hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments to consulting companies that appeared to have no employees, no offices, and no legitimate operations.
Several were connected to a business registered under her husband’s former surname.
There were invoices for nonexistent community programs.
Expenses for luxury travel disguised as donor outreach.
And payments marked as medical support that had never reached the families waiting for assistance.
The preliminary total exceeded seven hundred thousand dollars.
Alexander sat in his study staring at the evidence.
Elizabeth’s portrait hung above the fireplace.
She was laughing in the photograph, holding Oliver when he was just a baby.
The foundation had been her life’s work.
While Alexander drowned himself in business, Caroline had been draining the organization Elizabeth loved.
His attorney, Daniel Price, stood nearby.
“We need a complete forensic audit before drawing final conclusions,” Daniel said. “But the records are alarming.”
Alexander looked down at the documents.
“How long?”
“Some transactions began shortly after Elizabeth’s funeral.”
Alexander closed his eyes.
His wife had barely been buried before someone she trusted began exploiting her legacy.
Daniel hesitated.
“There is something else.”
Alexander opened his eyes.
“Tell me.”
