Chapter 11 - The Truth Didn't Save the Company
Removing Lucian would have been emotionally satisfying.
It would also have been financially reckless if done without a transition.
That was the part Dominic hated.
Truth had clarified responsibility.
It had not eliminated payroll.
It had not restored the money.
It had not removed the lien.
It had not made Monday disappear.
The bank agreed to delay the payment discussion for seven business days while counsel reviewed whether Margaret’s collateral consent was enforceable.
During that period, Bellamy Holdings could not draw additional funds.
Cash immediately tightened.
A barrel supplier put the company on cash-on-delivery terms.
Two seasonal hires were postponed.
The events director asked whether October weddings were safe.
Dominic realized the consequences of Lucian’s decisions extended far beyond four people fighting in a mansion.
Lucian used that fact against him.
“This is what you wanted?”
Dominic was standing in the winery office when Lucian confronted him.
“No.”
“You freeze the credit line, scare the bank, and now people who had nothing to do with this are wondering whether they have jobs.”
“You pledged property you didn't own.”
“To keep those jobs.”
“You deceived my mother.”
“To keep those jobs.”
Dominic stopped him.
“Don't use employees as permission for everything you did.”
Lucian looked away.
It was the first time Dominic noticed how tired he looked.
Not defeated.
Used up.
Lucian admitted he had been sleeping four hours a night for months. He had personally deferred most of his salary. Valeria had put part of their savings into Bellamy to cover a vendor payment.
None of that appeared in the version Dominic had built in his mind.
Lucian had not been draining the company.
He had been trying desperately to hold it together.
And somewhere along the way, saving Bellamy had become justification for controlling anyone who might stop him.
Dominic had to confront his own part as well.
Five years earlier, after one final argument with Charles, Dominic had announced that the family company could “burn to the ground without me.”
Lucian had remembered.
So had Margaret.
Dominic had enjoyed the distributions while refusing involvement.
He had made his absence everyone else’s problem.
That did not excuse fraud or manipulation.
But it meant Dominic could no longer pretend he had simply arrived as the responsible son to clean up someone else’s mess.
That night he told Margaret he would remain involved until the financial crisis was stabilized.
She surprised him.
“Don't stay because you feel guilty.”
“I should have been paying attention.”
“Yes.”
The answer stung because she did not soften it.
“But guilt makes terrible management,” she continued. “Stay if you're willing to do the work.”
Dominic looked at the financial folders covering her dining table.
May you like
For the first time in years, Bellamy was no longer something he could reject merely because it reminded him of his father.
He had to decide what, if anything, it deserved to become without Charles’s habits governing everyone who remained.
