Part 4

I did not go outside to investigate. Naomi locked the office door while I called the utility company. The representative confirmed that an online request had scheduled immediate disconnection for “vacant-property safety.” The request used a Dalton House email address.

My ownership paperwork canceled the order within twenty minutes. The incident was not dramatic enough for a movie, but it was useful evidence. Graham had tried to make the building harder to inspect on the same evening he learned we had found the deed.

Power returned at 8:31.

The next morning, Miguel received read-only access to Dalton House’s accounting records. Graham’s lawyer objected, but the settlement language was clear. I had three years of audit rights because the company still owed me a final equalization payment tied to accurate revenue.

Miguel found that the official ledger listed the Lake Briar payments as “venue expansion.” No address appeared. The invoices in my warehouse supplied the missing location.

He also found twenty-six customer refunds marked as paid even though the bank statements showed no matching transfers. The missing refunds totaled $184,900.

Naomi asked the court for a temporary order preventing Graham and Evelyn from moving company funds or transferring Harbor Street. She attached the draft deed, the disconnection request, and the disputed guarantee. A hearing was scheduled for Monday.

Sophie met us at Aisha’s office that afternoon. She wore loose gray clothes and held my grandmother’s ring in a small envelope.

“This belongs to you,” she said.

I put it back on my finger.

She placed her phone on the table and showed us a message from Evelyn: If you embarrass this family, do not expect Graham to support a child whose paternity he has never verified.

Sophie had not told anyone else about the message. It was cruelty used as leverage, and Aisha helped her document it without turning the meeting into gossip about her pregnancy.

Then Sophie opened a cloud folder Graham had shared with her. He had asked her to organize “house papers” while he was busy with the divorce. The folder contained a spreadsheet listing properties, balances, and expected transfers.

One row read HARBOR—AFTER SIGNATURE. Another read CLIENT FLOAT—RESTORE AFTER GRANT.

“What is client float?” Sophie asked.

“Deposits that belong to people waiting for weddings,” I said.

Graham had apparently expected a tourism grant to replace the money before anyone noticed. The grant application claimed Dalton House had no related-party debts and had used no client deposits for private property.

The application deadline was Friday.

If approved, public funds could be used to cover the hole without revealing how it began. If rejected or delayed, scheduled events might collapse.

We sent the evidence to the court and to the grant administrator through formal channels. We did not post it online. Clients needed truthful information and a plan, not a public panic.

That evening, Evelyn held an emergency staff meeting at Dalton House. She told employees I was trying to destroy the company because I had lost my marriage.

But one employee, venue manager Rosa Bell, recorded her own notes. She called me after the meeting.

“Evelyn ordered us to delete the Lake Briar vendor from the booking system,” Rosa said. “I refused. Now she has locked me out.”

Rosa had worked at Dalton House for fourteen years.

She also knew where the backup server was kept.