Chapter 10 - The Ledger with Two Names
Victor Kline agreed to meet at a private conference facility on the outskirts of the city.
He refused to return to the Prescott Foundation offices.
He also insisted that Miriam attend.
When Chadworth entered the conference room, he barely recognized the man sitting at the table.
Victor had always been meticulous.
His suits were perfectly pressed, his silver hair neatly combed, and his voice calm even during difficult financial negotiations.
Now he looked exhausted.
His collar was open, his hair disordered, and both hands were wrapped around a paper cup of coffee.
Chadworth sat across from him.
"Victor."
Victor looked up.
"I'm sorry."
Chadworth felt his jaw tighten.
"For what?"
Victor stared into his coffee.
"For being a coward."
Miriam placed a recording agreement and several documents on the table.
Before anyone began discussing financial details, she explained the importance of preserving records and obtaining independent legal representation.
Victor admitted that he had already contacted an attorney.
"Good," Miriam said. "Then you understand the seriousness of what we're discussing."
Victor nodded.
Chadworth leaned forward.
"Tell me what happened."
For several moments, Victor said nothing.
Then he began.
Eight months earlier, Sabina had approached him about a proposed education initiative.
She described a network of tutoring centers for children in underserved communities.
The project sounded exactly like the kind of work Elena had wanted the foundation to support.
At first, Victor believed it was legitimate.
Sabina introduced representatives from Cedar Vale Outreach and encouraged him to expedite their grant applications.
"I told her we needed more documentation," Victor said.
"What did she say?" Chadworth asked.
"That you had already approved the project."
Chadworth shook his head.
"I never did."
"I know that now."
Victor rubbed his forehead.
"She showed me an email that appeared to come from your executive account. It instructed me to move the proposal forward."
Miriam made a note.
"Do you still have that email?"
"Yes."
"Preserve the original."
Victor nodded.
He continued explaining.
The first payment was relatively modest.
Then the invoices became larger.
Cedar Vale claimed to have hired consultants, developed educational materials, and organized training programs across several counties.
But when Victor requested evidence of completed work, the responses became evasive.
He began asking questions.
That was when Sabina changed her approach.
"She told me you were unhappy with my performance," Victor said to Chadworth.
Chadworth stared at him.
"She said what?"
"That you believed I'd become careless. She implied you were considering replacing me."
"Why would you believe that?"
Victor looked ashamed.
"Because you'd been increasingly distant from the foundation. I hadn't spoken to you directly in months."
Chadworth felt the familiar weight of responsibility settle over him.
Again, absence had created a space for manipulation.
But he refused to let that truth erase Victor's accountability.
"You still had a duty to verify those payments," he said.
Victor lowered his head.
"I did."
"Then why didn't you stop them?"
Victor was silent.
Finally, he whispered:
"Because I was afraid."
He explained that Sabina had obtained documents concerning a questionable expense report Victor had approved years earlier.
The report hadn't involved stolen funds, but it had violated internal policy.
Sabina threatened to disclose it selectively and destroy his career unless he cooperated.
Rather than reporting the pressure, Victor kept signing.
One questionable approval led to another.
By the time he recognized the scale of the scheme, he had become involved in transactions he could no longer explain away.
Chadworth sat back.
"So you let charitable money disappear because you were afraid of losing your job."
Victor looked up, his eyes wet.
"Yes."
The honesty did not make the admission easier to hear.
Miriam opened another folder.
"Where did the money go?"
Victor removed a flash drive from his pocket.
"These are copies of payment records, vendor contracts, and correspondence. I've retained the originals where I legally could, and my attorney is arranging to provide relevant materials to investigators."
Miriam took note of the information but did not immediately connect the device to her computer.
The records would need to be handled properly.
Victor continued.
"Cedar Vale was supposedly independent. But its payments ultimately benefited a property company controlled through intermediaries connected to Sabina."
Chadworth stared at him.
"Property?"
"Luxury apartments. Renovations. Private expenses disguised as consulting costs."
"How much?"
"Approximately two-point-three million dollars in questionable disbursements so far. And there is another transfer scheduled."
Chadworth felt cold.
Elena had spent years raising support for children who needed help.
Sabina had apparently treated that work as an account from which to finance her own lifestyle.
"Why are you telling me now?" he asked.
Victor looked exhausted.
"Because I saw the reports about your daughters."
He swallowed.
"I knew Sabina was ruthless in business. I convinced myself that was all it was."
His voice cracked.
"Then I realized she was frightening children inside your own home."
Chadworth looked away.
Victor continued.
"I have grandchildren, Chadworth. Two little girls. I kept thinking about them."
Silence filled the room.
Finally, Chadworth spoke.
"You should have come forward sooner."
"I know."
"Cooperating now doesn't erase what you did."
Victor nodded.
"I know that, too."
Chadworth stood.
"But telling the truth is still the right thing to do."
Victor lowered his head.
After the meeting, Miriam contacted the foundation's independent trustees and the financial institutions involved.
Urgent measures were initiated to prevent further questionable transfers, secure records, and report suspected fraud to the appropriate authorities.
The process was complicated.
Large financial institutions did not reverse transactions merely because a wealthy man demanded it.
Documentation had to be reviewed.
Authorization records had to be checked.
And the foundation's governance procedures had to be followed.
But for the first time, the investigation had a clearer financial trail.
That evening, Chadworth returned home earlier than expected.
Gemma met him at the door with a paper butterfly.
"Look, Daddy!"
He knelt to examine it.
The wings were purple and yellow.
"That's beautiful."
"I made it at school."
"I remember. You showed me how to fold the wings yesterday."
Gemma smiled proudly.
"You didn't leave early."
"No, I didn't."
She wrapped her arms around his neck.
Across the hallway, Lorelai stood watching.
Chadworth smiled at her.
"Are we still working on your bridge tonight?"
She nodded.
"If you're not tired."
"I'm tired," he admitted. "But I'd still like to help."
Lorelai smiled.
He followed his daughters into the family room.
For a brief period, the financial investigation seemed far away.
They worked on the bridge, ate cookies, and argued playfully over whether the family dog they hoped to adopt should be small or enormous.
Chadworth didn't know whether they would eventually get a dog.
But he liked hearing the girls talk about a future they expected to share with him.
At nine seventeen, his phone rang.
Miriam.
Her voice was urgent.
"Chadworth, the bank has flagged an attempted transfer."
He stood.
"How much?"
"One-point-eight million dollars."
"Has it been released?"
"It's being held while the authorization is reviewed."
Chadworth gripped the phone.
"Who's trying to approve it?"
May you like
Miriam paused.
"The request came from an authorized account, and the verification system identifies the approving user as you."
