Chapter 9 - JULIAN’S MONEY HAD BEEN HIDING THE FAILURE
Sienna’s books were worse than anyone expected.
Not criminal.
Chaotic.
Deposits from future events had covered expenses from previous ones.
Personal charges mixed with business purchases.
Vendor balances rolled from month to month.
The family expense card had been used for nearly $74,000 over fourteen months.
Julian stared at the spreadsheet.
“Seventy-four?”
Evelyn sat across from him at Melissa’s office.
She had finally agreed to attend because Melissa made clear this was not a family dinner.
“Some of that was mine.”
Julian looked at her.
“For what?”
“Things I needed.”
“I’m not asking about groceries.”
Evelyn tightened her mouth.
Twelve thousand dollars had gone toward deposits for Sienna’s vendor contracts.
Another nine thousand paid a design studio.
Six thousand covered an old business card.
The rest had disappeared in dozens of smaller charges Evelyn classified as “family support.”
Julian leaned back.
“You knew the business was insolvent.”
Sienna snapped, “It isn’t insolvent.”
Melissa looked at her.
“You currently have more short-term obligations than available cash.”
Sienna stopped.
Evelyn looked at Julian.
“She needed time.”
“So you used my money without telling me.”
“You always said the account was for family.”
Julian felt the truth of that land.
“I did.”
He looked down.
“And that was stupid.”
Evelyn flinched.
“Don’t call helping your family stupid.”
“Helping isn’t the stupid part.”
Julian looked at his mother.
“Making it impossible for any of you to hear no was.”
Clara sat quietly beside him.
She had not touched the financial support account.
It was Julian’s money.
What she cared about were the contracts.
One contained language claiming Vellum House had “authorized access” to Hawthorne House for the booked date.
Hawthorne House.
Sienna had even created a venue name.
Clara asked, “Why not call it Ward House?”
Sienna looked embarrassed.
“Marketing.”
“No.”
Clara studied the logo.
Hawthorne had been Clara’s maiden name.
Sienna looked away.
Julian noticed.
“Why her name?”
Nobody answered.
Clara suddenly remembered.
Eight years earlier, a regional home magazine had profiled the estate after their renovation.
The article called it The Hawthorne-Ward House because Clara had led the restoration and her father’s construction company had done much of the early work.
The photographs still appeared online.
Sienna had borrowed not just the house.
She had borrowed Clara’s history to make the venue sound established.
“You used my father’s name.”
Sienna whispered, “It sounded elegant.”
Clara looked at her.
Her father had died before Julian became wealthy.
He had rebuilt the original kitchen himself.
The cabinet Clara had nearly collapsed against still bore a pencil mark inside where he had measured incorrectly and laughed at himself.
Sienna had turned the memory into branding.
The clients were now threatening chargebacks.
Two vendors had demanded immediate payment.
Sienna’s bank froze new credit while reviewing the disputes.
The problem had left the family.
It was now commercial.
Real.
Expensive.
At the end of the meeting, Melissa asked Sienna for all advertising materials involving the estate.
Sienna hesitated.
“There’s one thing you’re going to be angry about.”
Julian almost laughed.
Clara didn’t.
“What?”
Sienna looked at Evelyn.
Evelyn stared at the table.
Clara saw it.
May you like
Whatever was coming, Julian’s mother already knew.
Sienna whispered, “The house wasn’t only supposed to host those three events.”
