Chapter 2 - The Audit of Entitlement
By Monday morning, the fallout from the steakhouse had rippled through our extended family circle. Beverly had taken it upon herself to start a smear campaign, painting me as an ungrateful, unhinged daughter who threw a tantrum over a misunderstanding and embarrassed my father on his big night.
Aunts and cousins I hadn't spoken to in months began sending subtle—and not-so-subtle—messages urging me to "make peace with your mother" and "apologize for the sake of the family."
I ignored them all. I was busy.
As a senior financial analyst at a mid-sized accounting firm in Chicago, my entire professional life was built around tracking where money went and identifying irregularities. For years, I had deliberately kept my work life completely separate from my family's affairs. My father had run a modest construction supplies company for thirty-five years, and upon his retirement, Brandon had taken over as managing director.
That afternoon, my phone rang. It was an unblocked landline from my father's firm, Vance Supply Co.
"Natalie?"
It was Arthur, my father’s long-time chief accountant, a man who had known me since I was a child.
"Arthur? Is everything okay?"
"Natalie... I'm calling off the record," Arthur said, lowering his voice. "Your father officially stepped down on Friday. Brandon took full signing authority over the company accounts this morning. I... I am looking at expenses that don't make sense."
My grip tightened on my pen. "What kind of expenses?"
"Brandon just submitted reimbursement requests for over twelve thousand dollars in 'client entertainment' from last month alone. Included in those charges are high-end retail purchases, luxury resort deposits, and... Natalie, there are invoices from Marlowe’s Steakhouse spanning six months, categorized as business meetings."
A cold smile touched my lips. "So Brandon’s ninety-five-dollar steaks weren't paid out of his pocket at all."
"Not a chance," Arthur said with a heavy sigh. "He’s charging the company for his family’s personal luxury lifestyle. And with your dad retired, there’s no one checking his signatures except me—and Brandon just informed me today that he intends to restructure the accounting department next month. Meaning, he's replacing me."
Everything began to fall into place. Brandon’s supreme confidence, Paige’s smug arrogance, my mother’s blind adoration of her son—it was all funded by my father’s hard-earned life savings and business revenue.
"Arthur," I said quietly. "Do not resign yet. Can you send me copies of the ledger files from the past three years? Legally, as a minor shareholder of Vance Supply Co., I have a right to inspect the financial records."
There was a brief pause on the line. "Your dad gave you shares?"
"Ten percent when I turned twenty-five," I replied. "He wanted me to have a stake in the family business. I never paid attention to it before because I wanted to build my own career. But now? I'm going to look at every single cent."
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"Sending the files to your personal encrypted email now, Natalie," Arthur said softly. "Be careful. If Beverly finds out you're looking into Brandon's books, she'll tear the family apart."
"Arthur," I replied, staring out at the Chicago skyline from my office window, "the family was already torn apart. They just hadn't noticed yet."
