Chapter 11 - TRUTH DIDN’T FIX ANYTHING
I agreed to the independent trustee.
Mom didn't forgive me.
Naomi didn't thank me.
The paperwork took six weeks.
During that time, First Piedmont continued income payments to Mom but controlled extraordinary expenses.
The landscaping crew came every other week instead of twice a week.
Mom canceled two charity commitments.
She sold Dad’s restored 1968 Mustang rather than keep paying storage and insurance.
When I learned about the sale, I cried in my car.
I had no legal claim to the Mustang.
Still, Dad had driven me to high school graduation in it.
Consequences can be correct and painful at the same time.
Naomi’s situation worsened.
The company board completed its investigation.
They did not find evidence that she had stolen $146,000 outright.
They found sloppy self-dealing.
Weak documentation.
Conflicts she should have disclosed.
Her employment was terminated.
Her shareholder interest remained intact, but the company reserved claims over certain payments.
She put her event company into a restructuring process and laid off five employees.
Tyler stopped speaking to me.
That hurt more than I expected.
One afternoon he came to the hospital while I was leaving work.
“I just want you to know something,” he said.
I waited.
“My mom did wrong.”
I hadn’t expected that.
“But she also spent ten years being the person Grandpa called when something broke. When a client complained. When he needed somebody at six in the morning.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
The question stung.
I had turned Naomi into a thief so I wouldn't have to think about everything else she had been.
She had worked harder for Dad’s company than I ever had.
Dad may have loved us equally.
He had not burdened us equally.
That didn't justify fraud.
But it explained part of the resentment I had dismissed as greed.
“I probably don't know enough,” I admitted.
Tyler nodded.
“My mom doesn’t either.”
He walked away.
That evening, I called Naomi again.
This time she answered.
“I’m not calling about the case.”
“Then why?”
“Because I think Dad asked more from you than he asked from me.”
Silence.
“I should have seen that.”
Naomi gave a humorless laugh.
“Are you apologizing for me forging your signature?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“I’m apologizing for acting like I understood everything just because I was the one who got hurt.”
She didn't speak for several seconds.
Then:
“Mom wants us at the house Sunday.”
“Why?”
“She says she’s ready to tell us the part she still hasn’t told Peter.”
My body went cold.
“What part?”
May you like
Naomi’s voice became flat.
“The reason Daniel Mercer left Charlotte.”
