Chapter 6 - THE FAMILY CHOOSES SIDES
Caleb arrived after dark.
Genevieve's younger brother still wore hospital scrubs beneath his coat. He was an orthopedic surgeon in Santa Rosa, had no formal role in Alder Row, and had spent most of his adult life proudly avoiding family business.
Eleanor had called him anyway.
That told Genevieve exactly what her mother wanted.
Backup.
Caleb hugged Genevieve before saying anything.
Then he looked at the open files.
“What are you doing?”
“Finding out where our money went.”
“Our money?”
“Company money.”
“Mom says you're about to freeze a project over invoices.”
Genevieve looked at Eleanor.
“You called him to make me sound unstable?”
“I called your brother because you're pregnant, exhausted, and refusing to go home.”
“My husband is locked out.”
Caleb blinked.
“What happened?”
Genevieve told him.
Not everything.
Just the safe.
Julian's thumbprint stunt.
Victoria.
The affair.
By the end, Caleb had stopped defending anyone.
He sat down slowly.
“He actually thought you were unconscious?”
“Yes.”
“And he still—”
“Yes.”
Caleb rubbed both hands over his face.
Eleanor said, “Which is why the marriage issue should be handled separately.”
Genevieve turned on her.
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it's true.”
“No. Because separation protects the company.”
Eleanor's mouth tightened.
Caleb looked between them.
“What company problem?”
David summarized North Pier.
Eleanor interrupted twice to correct language she considered inflammatory.
Genevieve watched her mother do what she'd always done best: turn moral questions into operational ones.
By ten, Caleb understood enough to become angry.
But not in the direction Genevieve expected.
“You knew about Monterey?” he asked Eleanor.
“I knew about cost reallocations.”
“And Dad?”
“He directed them.”
“Were they illegal?”
Eleanor hesitated.
“I didn't say that.”
“You didn't answer.”
Genevieve watched her brother absorb the first stain anyone had ever put on their father's memory.
Then he turned to her.
“And you're going to hand all this to outsiders?”
“I already hired an outside forensic accountant.”
Caleb pushed back from the table.
“Jesus, Gen.”
“So you'd rather not know?”
“I'd rather not destroy two hundred people's jobs because Julian's a cheating bastard.”
“Those aren't the only options.”
“You don't know that.”
His words landed harder because there was truth in them.
Genevieve had no idea yet what exposure would cost.
She knew only what silence already had.
Eleanor seized on Caleb's hesitation.
“Give me forty-eight hours.”
Genevieve looked at her.
“For what?”
“To get through the covenant test.”
“And then?”
“I'll support a full review.”
David spoke quietly. “If transactions are still occurring, waiting can alter the evidence.”
Eleanor stared at him.
Genevieve knew what she had to do.
She also knew she wasn't ready.
That was her flaw, and nobody in the room needed to name it.
She had spent years letting stronger personalities make the ugly decisions.
Her father.
Then her mother.
Then Julian.
She had called it keeping the peace.
Maybe it had just been fear of being disliked.
Her phone buzzed.
Julian.
This time she answered.
“Where are you?”
His voice sounded exhausted.
“At the house?”
“Yes.”
“Put my mother on.”
“Gen—”
“Put her on.”
Eleanor shook her head.
Genevieve put the call on speaker.
Julian said, “Eleanor, tell her what happens Thursday.”
The room changed.
Not because of what he said.
Because of how he said it.
Familiar.
Expectant.
As if Eleanor had been managing Genevieve for him.
Eleanor closed her eyes.
Caleb noticed too.
Genevieve asked, “How many times have you two had conversations about me without me?”
Julian said nothing.
Eleanor said, “That isn't fair.”
“No. It isn't.”
Genevieve ended the call.
Caleb stood.
“I need air.”
At the doorway, he stopped.
“If you find proof Julian stole money, I'll back you.”
Genevieve waited.
“But if this is old accounting stuff Dad and Mom already fixed, don't burn the company down trying to punish your husband.”
He left.
Her brother wasn't choosing Julian.
He was choosing stability.
May you like
For years, Genevieve had done the same thing.
Now she knew how betrayal could look almost reasonable from the inside.
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