Chapter 6 - The Emergency Meeting
Monday morning, the air crackled with tension. We didn't meet at my parents' house. We met at the offices of Granddad's original estate law firm downtown. Dad had made a few phone calls Sunday night. The moment the senior partner heard the word 'embezzlement,' he cleared his schedule.
Almost the entire family was there. My brother, Dave. My cousins. My parents. Me and Marianne. We sat around a massive mahogany conference table. The only person missing was Carol.
She walked in twenty minutes late, dragging a slick-looking lawyer in a cheap suit behind her. She was trying to project confidence, wearing a sharp blazer and her signature designer heels. But her eyes were frantic. She looked like a cornered animal.
“This is an illegal meeting,” Carol announced, refusing to sit down. “I am the sole trustee. You cannot convene without my authorization.” “Sit down, Carol,” Dad said. His voice wasn't loud, but it commanded the room.
Her lawyer cleared his throat. “My client denies all allegations of financial impropriety. The 'management fees' were legally permissible under standard trust administration codes. As for the adoption clause, my client was acting on a previous draft—” “Shut up,” my brother Dave snapped. The lawyer blinked, stunned.
I slid a printed packet across the table toward Carol. “We pulled the bank records this morning, Carol,” I said. “Dad authorized the bank to release them since he's a secondary beneficiary. The LLC you transferred the money to? It's registered to your home address.”
May you like
Carol stared at the packet like it was a bomb. “I worked hard for this family!” she suddenly screamed. “Dad left me with all the pressure! Managing the tenants, fixing the roofs, dealing with the taxes! You all just sat back and waited for the checks to clear! I deserved to be compensated!”
“You were compensated,” Dad said coldly. “Granddad left you the lake house free and clear as payment for managing the trust. You got greedy. And then, you tried to take it out on innocent children.”
