Chapter 17 - THE LAST THEFT
The new CEO was Daniel Kessler.
Independent.
Respected.
Clean background.
Apparently not clean enough.
Ninety million dollars had been routed through three banks.
Then split.
Employee money.
Again.
Dad went cold.
“This cannot happen twice.”
Investigators locked accounts.
Seventy-one million was recovered.
Nineteen million vanished into crypto and offshore transfers.
Daniel disappeared.
Victor was immediately suspected.
He had appointed Daniel years earlier to a subsidiary board.
Victor denied involvement.
Nobody believed him.
Then I noticed something in an old photo.
Daniel standing behind Celeste at a charity gala.
Too close.
I asked Victor.
He looked away.
“What?”
“Who is he to her?”
Victor sat down.
“Her godfather.”
Dad swore.
The independent CEO was not independent.
Victor had hidden the relationship from lenders.
Again.
He claimed Daniel had been the best candidate.
Dad nearly threw his cane.
I took it away.
“Give me that.”
“I wasn’t going to hit him.”
“You were thinking loudly.”
Investigators found Daniel in Montreal.
He had nineteen million.
And letters from Celeste.
Written from jail.
She had instructed him to move the restitution money.
Not for herself.
To destroy the restructuring.
If workers were cheated again, she believed they would blame Dad.
Then Mercer Dominion.
Then me.
Even in prison, she wanted the story back.
Daniel cooperated.
The missing money was recovered.
Celeste received new charges.
Her sentence would grow.
Victor sat in Dad’s office after midnight.
“I created this.”
Dad said.
“Yes.”
No comfort.
Victor nodded.
“Thank you.”
That surprised me.
Then he signed over a large portion of his remaining personal fortune to the restitution fund.
Not enough to erase anything.
Something.
The employees were finally paid in full.
Every dollar.
Interest included.
The next morning, Maria sent me a photo.
Her first paycheck adjustment.
Caption.
I BOUGHT MYSELF A VERY EXPENSIVE COFFEE.
I laughed.
Then another message arrived.
From Adrian.
CAN I SEE YOU?
I stared at it.
Dad pretended not to notice.
May you like
He was terrible at pretending.
