Chapter 4 - THE DECISION THAT PUT MY FATHER’S COMPANY AT RISK
I stayed overnight for observation.
By Sunday afternoon, my breathing had stabilized and the redness was fading.
My marriage was technically one day old.
Alejandro and I spent our first night as husband and wife in a hospital room.
No honeymoon suite.
No champagne.
Just machine beeps and the smell of disinfectant.
“Where do you want to go when they release you?” he asked.
I understood the real question.
We had planned to stay for three nights at my parents’ Paradise Valley estate before flying to Maui.
“Not my parents’ house.”
“Good.”
We checked into a quiet hotel near Scottsdale instead and canceled the honeymoon.
I called the company’s outside counsel Monday morning.
Her name was Rebecca Lin.
“I need access to all related-party expenditures for the past twenty-four months.”
Rebecca paused.
“Is this because of the vehicle request?”
“Partly.”
“Does Roberto know?”
“No.”
“You understand he’s chairman.”
“I understand I’m CFO.”
I also asked our bank to require dual approval for any family-related payment above twenty-five thousand dollars until the review ended.
The bank complied because the board had authorized those controls when I joined.
Roberto discovered the change within two hours.
“You froze me out of my own company.”
“No. You need a second approval.”
“From you.”
“Or Rebecca from the board finance committee.”
“You’re doing this because I lost my temper.”
“I’m doing it because I found a ninety-five-thousand-dollar purchase you were trying to force through without a legitimate business purpose.”
He lowered his voice.
“Do not mix Saturday with company business.”
“You mixed them when you mentioned the car while hitting me.”
Silence.
For once, Roberto had no answer.
The financial review created immediate problems.
A vendor payment to a Phoenix event-production company was flagged because it lacked supporting documentation.
Two reimbursements to Fernanda were paused.
A luxury apartment lease in Scottsdale appeared in a marketing-expense category.
Fernanda lived in that apartment.
“Dad pays part of it,” she told me when I called.
“The company pays part of it.”
“Same difference.”
“No.”
“You really want to do this now?”
“Yes.”
She laughed bitterly.
“Then enjoy finding out what Saint Roberto has actually been doing.”
She hung up.
I sat still.
That was not what I expected.
Fernanda sounded angry at me.
But she sounded angrier at him.
Outside counsel found the next issue that afternoon.
More than $240,000 in reimbursements had gone to Fernanda over eighteen months.
The descriptions were vague:
Brand event advances.
Vendor float.
Client entertainment.
Emergency sourcing.
Some had receipts.
Many didn’t.
Rebecca Lin called me.
“Valeria, before you assume these were payments to your sister, we need to determine whether she was spending personally or fronting expenses for the company.”
“Why would she front a quarter-million dollars?”
“That is exactly what we need to ask.”
The SUV suddenly looked less like an isolated demand.
May you like
My sister might have been expecting something she believed the company already owed her.
And my father had been desperate for me not to ask why.
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