Chapter 6 - THE LEDGER
The first audit took forty-eight hours.
Fifty thousand per month.
Thirty-six months.
$1.8 million.
Actual direct benefit reaching Grace and Sophia:
Approximately $143,000.
Not nothing.
Far less.
Where did the rest go?
$312,000—“residential lease support.”
Property:
A Sterling-owned townhouse.
Grace never lived there.
Who did?
No one.
It was used as a model residence and occasional guest property.
$288,000—“private education.”
Sophia attended a church preschool that cost under $9,000 annually.
$196,000—“security services.”
No security assigned to Grace.
$141,000—“medical and wellness.”
Actual medical bills:
About $18,000.
$376,000—family-management administrative and protective services.
$203,000—“special family reserve.”
$141,000—miscellaneous.
I stared.
“Who approved?”
Daniel answered:
“Your authorization created the spending ceiling. Internal approvals came from Family Management.”
“Names.”
“Victoria on some.”
My jaw tightened.
“Some?”
“Chief operating officer Malcolm Reed on many. Controller Denise Harper. Two outside vendors.”
“Vendor owners?”
“Still tracing.”
Grace was sitting across the conference room.
She laughed once.
“So while Sophia and I were sleeping in a shelter, your company billed you for security protecting us.”
I had no defense.
“I didn’t know.”
May you like
“I know.”
That was worse.
