Chapter 13 - Six Days Before the Wedding Date
The wedding date remained on Adrian's calendar long after the wedding disappeared.
He almost deleted it.
Then didn't.
Six days before what would have been the ceremony, the family-office audit produced its first complete estimate.
Charles had caused or concealed:
$118 million in losses.
$37 million in improper transfers.
$22 million in undisclosed related-party loans.
Multiple false collateral representations.
And years of misleading trust reports.
Some money remained recoverable.
Some assets existed.
Some losses were real.
The scandal became public.
Blackwood Meridian's shares fell again.
Commentators asked whether Adrian should resign.
His board met.
Adrian entered prepared to step down.
Instead, the independent directors asked him to remain.
Why?
He had disclosed.
Cooperated.
Refused to use family assets to save the acquisition.
But one director said:
“You do need to address the governance failure.”
Adrian agreed.
The company had relied too heavily on family relationships.
His name gave him authority.
It had also created blind spots.
He announced reforms.
No family-office collateral without full audit committee approval.
No related-party guarantees.
No family trust used in corporate financing without independent verification.
No one named Blackwood automatically received a board seat.
Charles's seat was removed.
For good.
Then Adrian made a decision that shocked everyone.
He resigned as chair.
Not CEO.
Chair.
He supported an independent director.
Reporters called it surrender.
Adrian called it separation.
One person should not be able to become institution and family simultaneously.
He had seen where that led.
Meanwhile, Eleanor returned home.
Not to the mansion.
She refused.
“I don't want to see the pool.”
Adrian understood.
They stayed temporarily at a smaller property in Connecticut.
No grand marble.
No forty-person staff.
Eleanor liked it.
“Your father hated this house.”
“Why?”
“Too small.”
Adrian laughed.
“It's nine thousand square feet.”
“Exactly.”
For the first time in months, she sounded like herself.
Then Marcus brought bad news.
Someone had accessed the Blackwood mansion after police released part of the property.
“How?”
“Old service credential.”
“Whose?”
“Thomas Reed.”
Marcus's brother.
Adrian frowned.
Marcus almost never discussed family.
“Your brother?”
“Yes.”
“Why would he have access?”
“He worked security before I did.”
“When?”
“Ten years ago.”
Around Jonathan's death.
Adrian stared.
“Where is he?”
“Unknown.”
Marcus looked ashamed.
“There is something I should have told you.”
Adrian's anger returned instantly.
“Don't.”
Marcus stopped.
“Do not make me hear that sentence again.”
“I understand.”
“Tell me.”
“My brother worked for Charles.”
Silence.
“For how long?”
“Years.”
“During Maine?”
“Yes.”
Adrian's body went cold.
“Was he there?”
“No.”
“You're sure?”
“I thought I was.”
“Thought?”
“Thomas left Blackwood employment two months after your father died.”
“Why?”
“He said Charles paid him to keep quiet about something.”
“What?”
“He never told me.”
“And you didn't tell anyone.”
Marcus looked down.
“I was twenty-nine. I wanted the security director job. I thought Thomas was bitter.”
Adrian stared.
Another man who had explained away a warning because believing it was inconvenient.
“Why is he back?”
“I don't know.”
Security footage showed Thomas entering the old mansion at 2:14 a.m.
He went directly to Adrian's study.
Stayed eight minutes.
Left carrying nothing visible.
What was he looking for?
The red binder had been seized.
Jonathan's sealed box was safe.
Trust records moved.
Then Adrian remembered something.
The roses.
The bouquet he had dropped the night he found Eleanor.
Police had photographed them.
Staff later removed them.
Why would that matter?
It didn't.
But Celeste's belongings had not all been seized.
Some remained in the locked wedding-planning office beside Adrian's study.
Investigators searched again.
One drawer was open.
Missing:
A silver laptop Celeste had used for wedding planning.
Police thought it contained only vendor information.
Marcus said:
“Thomas took it.”
“Why?”
“We don't know.”
Celeste did.
When prosecutors told her, she panicked.
“That computer has Charles's backup.”
“What backup?”
“A video.”
Adrian's chest tightened.
“Of what?”
May you like
Celeste answered:
“Maine.”
