Chapter 5 - THE SIGNATURE GRANT COULD NOT EXPLAIN
Seraphina read the report three times.
Mavis.
Grant’s mother.
The woman who had spent years telling Seraphina that she contributed nothing to the Holloway family.
The woman who complained about grocery purchases while receiving millions through a company financed indirectly by Seraphina’s own capital.
Seraphina called Julian.
He answered immediately.
“How certain?”
“Ninety-nine percent.”
“Explain.”
“North Coast Advisory is held by a Caribbean trust. We traced administration instructions to a Palm Beach estate attorney.”
“And?”
“The original trust documents designate Mavis Holloway as settlor and primary beneficiary.”
Seraphina closed her eyes.
“How much reached her?”
“We’re still calculating.”
“Estimate.”
“Between eleven and fourteen million.”
Seraphina stood near the bedroom window.
The Atlantic glittered beyond the lawn.
It looked peaceful.
Inside the house, everything she believed about her marriage was decomposing by the hour.
“Did Grant know?”
“We cannot prove that yet.”
“He signed payments.”
“Yes.”
“But he could claim he believed North Coast provided legitimate services.”
“Yes.”
“Do you believe that?”
Julian hesitated.
“As your attorney?”
“Yes.”
“I believe we need evidence.”
That was why Seraphina trusted him.
Julian rarely confused suspicion with fact.
“Where is Grant?”
“He spent the night at his Miami office.”
“And Mavis?”
“Our security team says she returned to the Palm Beach house around two.”
Seraphina looked toward the hallway.
Mavis was under the same roof.
“Do not contact her.”
“Agreed.”
“I’m going downstairs.”
“Seraphina.”
“Yes?”
“Do not confront her alone.”
Seraphina almost smiled.
“She has spent seven years confronting me alone.”
“This is different.”
He was right.
Seraphina called her head of security.
Five minutes later, she entered the breakfast room.
Mavis was already seated.
Perfectly dressed.
Perfect posture.
Cup of tea in front of her.
As if the previous night had never happened.
“Good morning,” Mavis said.
Seraphina looked at her.
That casual greeting told her everything.
Mavis intended to pretend normality until someone forced reality into the room.
“Did you sleep well?”
Mavis’s fingers tightened around the cup.
“Not particularly.”
“Neither did I.”
“I suppose you’re pleased.”
“With what?”
“Humiliating Grant.”
Seraphina pulled out a chair.
“Mavis, your son attended a gala with his mistress.”
“Delaney is a colleague.”
“You watched him kiss her.”
Mavis looked away.
“I saw nothing.”
Seraphina actually laughed.
It was soft.
Almost tired.
“For seven years I thought you disliked me because you believed I wasn’t good enough for your family.”
“I never said that.”
“You said it repeatedly.”
“I wanted Grant to marry appropriately.”
“And Bellamy Holdings suddenly makes me appropriate?”
Mavis’s face tightened.
“Money changes circumstances.”
“No. Money reveals them.”
Mavis placed down her cup.
“You hid who you were.”
“Yes.”
“You deceived us.”
Seraphina nodded.
“I hid my wealth.”
“That is deception.”
“Yes.”
Mavis seemed surprised that she admitted it.
Seraphina leaned forward.
“But I never lied about loving your son.”
Mavis said nothing.
“I never had another relationship. I never stole from his company. I never publicly humiliated him.”
“You publicly destroyed him last night.”
“No. I introduced myself.”
The distinction silenced her.
Seraphina watched her for several seconds.
Then she said one name.
“North Coast Advisory.”
The color disappeared from Mavis’s face.
There.
Seraphina knew.
Mavis recovered quickly.
“I don’t know what that is.”
“You should.”
“No.”
“It paid a trust benefiting you more than eleven million dollars.”
Mavis stood abruptly.
“That is ridiculous.”
“Sit down.”
“How dare you—”
“Mavis.”
For the first time in seven years, Seraphina’s voice carried enough authority to stop her.
Mavis sat.
Seraphina opened a folder.
She placed a trust diagram on the table.
Mavis stared at it.
Her hands began trembling.
“Where did you get this?”
“Does it matter?”
“You had no right to investigate me.”
“Bellamy funds entered North Coast.”
“You don’t understand.”
“That phrase is becoming popular in this family.”
Mavis’s eyes flashed.
“It was Grant’s father.”
Seraphina paused.
“What?”
“He created the arrangement years ago.”
“Grant’s father died nine years ago.”
“The company structure remained.”
“Why were millions transferred last year?”
Mavis looked away.
“I don’t handle those details.”
“But you received the money.”
“It was family money.”
“No.”
Seraphina’s tone sharpened.
“It was corporate money routed through a company supposedly providing consulting services.”
Mavis stood again.
“I will not be interrogated in my own home.”
Seraphina looked around.
“Mavis, this is not your home.”
Mavis froze.
Seraphina did not enjoy saying it.
That was what made it powerful.
“The property belongs to Bellamy Residential Trust.”
Mavis sank back into the chair.
“You wouldn’t.”
“Wouldn’t what?”
“Throw me out.”
Seraphina looked at the woman who had ordered her to clean floors, remake dinners and apologize to guests.
“No.”
Relief crossed Mavis’s face.
“I’m not throwing you out today.”
The relief disappeared.
“I’m asking one question.”
Mavis stared at her.
“Did Grant know North Coast belonged to you?”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
Seraphina noticed.
“Mavis.”
“No.”
“Then why did he authorize the payments?”
“His father had used consultants for years. Grant continued certain relationships.”
“Without due diligence?”
“He trusted me.”
There it was.
Seraphina leaned back.
“So he knew you were involved.”
Mavis realized her mistake.
“He knew I recommended them.”
“That is not what you said.”
“I’m upset.”
“Were the services real?”
Mavis’s eyes filled with tears.
“I protected this family.”
“How?”
“After my husband died, everything became unstable.”
“Holloway Meridian?”
“Our finances.”
“You needed money.”
“I needed security.”
“So you extracted it from Grant’s company?”
“It belonged to us!”
“It belonged to shareholders and partners.”
Mavis slammed her hand against the table.
“You have no idea what it is like to lose everything!”
The sentence echoed.
Seraphina stared at her.
“My father died six weeks before my wedding.”
Mavis became silent.
“I lost the only parent I had left.”
Seraphina’s voice became quieter.
“And unlike you, I did not decide grief entitled me to someone else’s money.”
Mavis looked down.
Seraphina stood.
“Julian’s team will handle the rest.”
She turned toward the door.
“Seraphina.”
She stopped.
Mavis sounded suddenly old.
“Grant didn’t know everything.”
Seraphina turned.
“How much did he know?”
Mavis covered her mouth.
Then whispered:
“Enough.”
Before Seraphina could ask more, Grant appeared in the doorway.
His face was exhausted.
His tuxedo was gone.
His shirt was wrinkled.
For perhaps the first time in his adult life, Grant Holloway looked powerless.
He stared at his mother.
Then Seraphina.
“What did you tell her?”
Mavis began crying.
Grant closed his eyes.
Seraphina understood immediately.
“You did know.”
Grant said nothing.
She stepped closer.
“You knew your mother controlled North Coast.”
“I knew she had an interest.”
“And you signed payments anyway.”
Grant looked at her.
“My father created the arrangement.”
“Your father was dead.”
“I was trying to unwind it.”
“With another eleven million dollars?”
“It wasn’t that simple.”
“Nothing ever is when someone needs an excuse.”
Grant moved toward her.
“Sera, listen.”
“No.”
“Please.”
“You had seven years to tell me the truth.”
“So did you.”
That stopped her.
Grant saw the impact.
“You hid Bellamy Holdings.”
“Yes.”
“You secretly financed my company.”
“Yes.”
“You controlled parts of my business without telling me.”
“No.”
“You had leverage.”
“I had investments.”
“You had power.”
Seraphina nodded.
“And I never used it against you until you gave me a reason to examine what you were doing with it.”
Grant rubbed his face.
“North Coast was my father’s mistake.”
“Then why did you keep paying it?”
Grant looked toward Mavis.
His mother could not meet his eyes.
Finally he whispered:
“Because she threatened to tell the board what my father had done.”
Seraphina stared.
“What had he done?”
Grant did not answer.
Mavis began crying harder.
Seraphina felt cold.
“Grant.”
He closed his eyes.
“My father falsified financial statements during the 2008 crisis.”
The room fell silent.
“He hid losses. North Coast was created afterward to move money and settle obligations quietly.”
Seraphina struggled to process it.
“And you inherited this?”
“Yes.”
“Then continued it?”
“At first I tried to fix it.”
“At first?”
Grant looked at her.
“Then I realized if the truth came out, Holloway Meridian would collapse.”
Seraphina whispered:
“So you kept lying.”
Grant nodded once.
Before anyone could speak again, Seraphina’s phone rang.
Julian.
She answered.
“What?”
His voice was unusually tense.
“We found another document.”
“What document?”
“A personal guarantee attached to a Bellamy-backed credit facility.”
“That’s normal.”
“No.”
Julian paused.
“The signature authorizing it appears to be yours.”
Seraphina frowned.
“I never signed a personal guarantee for Holloway Meridian.”
“I know.”
Her heart stopped.
Julian continued.
“Which means someone forged the chairwoman of Bellamy Holdings’ signature.”
May you like
Seraphina slowly looked at Grant.
And this time, even he looked terrified.
