Nora opened a folder.
“Your grandfather began reviewing family financial activity approximately fourteen months before he died,” she said. “He became concerned after your father asked him to co-sign a loan. Robert refused.”
“My father never told me that.”
“No,” Nora said. “I imagine he did not.”
She turned a page toward me. Account summaries, loan documents, and printed emails sat in neat stacks.
“Your father’s real estate company has been overleveraged for years. Several projects failed quietly. He used new loans to cover old losses. Your mother’s charity events were also not as clean as they appeared. Large vendor payments were routed through companies connected to her friends.”
I felt cold. “Were they stealing?”
“I can’t make that allegation casually,” Nora said. “But your grandfather suspected misuse of funds. He also believed your parents expected to gain access to your inheritance once you turned eighteen.”
“They couldn’t just take it.”
