Chapter 11 - The Trust Revelation
"If this is true, Daniel, the legal implications are catastrophic," Priya said, her voice turning completely professional. "Your mother has been telling the board of directors for years that she is the primary controller of the family empire."
"Let her believe her own lies," I said coldly.
Legally, my mother only held a lifetime income interest in the trust. She received a massive monthly stipend, but she had zero actual executive power. The absolute voting control of the company and the estate had legally passed to me on my thirty-fifth birthday—exactly six weeks ago.
I had intentionally said nothing to anyone. I wanted to see who in the company would treat me differently, and who would show their true colors, while they still believed I was powerless. My mother had taken the bait perfectly.
"Priya, what does the trust charter mandate regarding internal theft?" I asked, though I already knew the answer.
"Section four, paragraph nine," Priya recited from memory. "The independent trustee is legally required to disclose all findings to federal prosecutors once internal theft or embezzlement exceeds one hundred thousand dollars. We are way past that threshold."
"Good," I said. "I want to bury them in their own greed."
"What do you need me to do right now?" Priya asked, the sound of her typing echoing over the phone.
May you like
"By noon today, I want you to completely freeze every single discretionary family account tied to my mother and Lucas. Cut off their credit cards, freeze the shell companies, and alert the bank's fraud division."
"Consider it done," Priya promised.
