Chapter 8
Salvatore signed the resolutions the next morning.
The Mancini Family Relief Foundation would be removed from family management immediately.
An independent nonprofit administrator would take operational control.
A forensic firm would audit five years of grants.
Rebecca would notify the state charity regulator of suspected misuse.
And Salvatore authorized cooperation with any lawful investigation resulting from the findings.
His uncle called the decision betrayal.
Several capos called it stupidity.
Marina called it revenge.
Salvatore called it irreversible.
Rebecca had warned him exactly what could happen.
The foundation’s books touched family-owned companies.
Vendor relationships.
Properties.
Donations.
Tax deductions.
Payments involving people who preferred privacy.
An outside audit might discover unrelated irregularities.
Salvatore signed anyway.
“Once we do this,” Rebecca said, “you cannot choose which facts become inconvenient.”
“I know.”
“Your own companies may be asked for records.”
“I know.”
“Edmund may cooperate against people you care about.”
“I know.”
Rebecca looked at him.
“And Gabriella may have made mistakes too.”
That one hurt.
Salvatore nodded.
“If she did, they go in the report.”
Rebecca held his gaze for a second.
Then took the signed documents.
By afternoon, the foundation’s bank access was frozen except for emergency grants approved by the independent administrator.
Marina lost access.
Edmund lost access.
Salvatore voluntarily gave up direct authority as well.
That surprised everyone.
“You fund most of it,” Edmund said when he learned.
“That doesn’t mean I get to decide what the audit finds.”
“You’re letting strangers crawl through Gabriella’s life.”
Salvatore looked at him.
“No.”
His voice was quiet.
“I’m making sure nobody gets to write her life after she’s gone.”
The decision produced immediate consequences.
A hospital bill for one beneficiary almost went unpaid during the transition.
Salvatore covered it personally through a documented emergency process.
Two vendors threatened lawsuits.
One withdrew.
North Bridge hired criminal counsel.
Marina’s event venue lost a line of credit after its hidden dependence on consulting payments became known.
She blamed Salvatore.
He did not respond.
Then the auditors found something that made the entire investigation more dangerous.
The questionable payments under Gabriella’s name did not stop when she entered hospice.
They continued for twelve days after she became physically incapable of using a computer.
And one transaction was approved under her credentials the morning after she died.
Salvatore stared at the timestamp.
9:17 a.m.
May you like
Gabriella had died at 2:06 a.m.
Someone used a dead woman’s login seven hours later.
