Chapter 12
The corporate consequences arrived before the criminal case ended.
The independent board reviewed the full forensic report.
Brennan was suspended from every management role.
His family-company accounts were frozen pending investigation.
He lost his capo authority inside the broader organization as well—not because a court ordered it, but because Cassian refused to allow a man under elder-abuse investigation to command people in his name.
Several older relatives objected.
“Brennan is your brother.”
Cassian looked at them.
“Estelle is his mother.”
Nobody had a useful response.
Lavinia resigned from the Morretti Foundation before the board could remove her.
It did not save her reputation.
The independent audit confirmed hundreds of thousands of dollars in unsupported luxury expenses.
Some were reimbursable mistakes.
Others required repayment.
The foundation sued to recover improper spending.
The divorce became uglier.
Lavinia sought a significant financial settlement under the couple’s marital agreement.
Rebecca reminded Cassian that being a terrible wife did not automatically erase legal property rights.
He hated hearing it.
“Consequences need to match contracts too,” she said.
Cassian accepted that.
Lavinia received what she was legally entitled to.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
No private punishment hidden inside the divorce.
Meanwhile, the restructuring plan Cassian had postponed returned to the board.
This time Estelle insisted on attending herself.
Cassian objected.
“I can vote remotely.”
“You can.”
“I want to sit there.”
“Mom—”
She pointed at him.
“Do not become another man explaining where I am allowed to sit.”
Cassian stopped.
Then nodded.
At the meeting, Estelle read every page.
Asked three questions.
Complained that one chart used font too small for any civilized person.
Then voted for the restructuring.
The measure passed.
Not because Cassian controlled her shares.
May you like
Because she chose.
That difference became the entire point.
