Chapter 14 - HONORA’S MONEY
Independent accounting of Mother’s club-related finances showed:
No giant embezzlement.
No secret transfer of club cash to Maris.
No hidden villa.
Mother did receive:
Committee stipend.
Expense reimbursements.
Management fees through family office.
Most authorized historically.
Some after proxy authority expired.
Questionable.
Total potentially improper compensation:
About $94,000 over two years.
Not millions.
Some might be recoverable.
Then loans:
$620,000 advanced.
Balance owed to Mother:
Approximately $410,000 plus agreed interest.
So if club repaid improper fees and loans netted, Mother might still be owed money.
Messy.
I hated that because simple villain accounting would have felt easier.
Then Naomi said:
“Good governance is not about making numbers satisfy your anger.”
I know.
Then club distributions that should have gone to Blythe’s trust?
They did.
First Meridian received.
No diversion.
That mattered enormously.
Mother had not stolen Blythe’s club income.
She had retained control longer than authorized and mishandled jewelry.
Different wrong.
Then one past transaction raised concern.
Mother had approved a lease from club property to a company partly owned by Maris.
Small boutique pop-up.
Below-market rent.
Loss estimated:
$36,000 over three years.
Conflict not disclosed properly.
That was real.
Maris claimed she assumed Mother had authority.
Maybe.
Independent board rescinded lease.
Maris repaid agreed difference over time.
No criminal fraud unless intent. Civil.
Then Mother’s defense:
She considered family businesses part of club ecosystem.
Exactly the problem.
Club belonged to trust.
Not family favor machine.
Then court ordered:
No related-party transactions without independent approval.
Good.
Then Mother looked at me.
“Happy?”
“No.”
“What would make you happy?”
“Vivienne alive.”
Silence.
That was the first conversation where she stopped performing.
Then:
“I loved her too.”
I believed that.
Maybe.
Love does not prevent control.
Mother had loved Vivienne and still fought her structure.
Then:
“She hated me at the end.”
“I don’t know.”
“She did.”
“Maybe she hated how you behaved.”
Mother looked away.
No resolution.
Then Blythe arrived with nanny? We hadn't introduced nanny. Better I picked her up later.
At home she asked:
“Grandma bad?”
I refused category.
“Grandma did some wrong things.”
“Is Aunt bad?”
“Same answer.”
“Daddy bad?”
I sighed.
“I threw a box.”
She giggled.
“Funny.”
Apparently every child thinks retaliatory boxes are hilarious.
“Still wrong.”
May you like
She nodded.
Good.
