Chapter 8
Isabella did not promise Preston anything.
She told Rachel about the call.
Then she did something Preston clearly had not expected.
She disclosed it to the insurer.
That made family reconciliation harder.
It also meant Preston could no longer privately bargain with her.
The insurer formally requested warehouse records.
The family company froze all transfers through Diane’s property.
Several collectors temporarily withdrew pieces.
Revenue dropped.
Employees worried about layoffs.
Isabella personally covered payroll from company reserves rather than restore Preston’s authority.
Diane sent a message.
You’re risking twenty years of business over one night.
Isabella answered once.
You risked my daughter before I knew the rest.
The warehouse records arrived through attorneys four days later.
The access logs showed Preston had visited repeatedly.
So had Diane.
Several restoration pieces passed through the facility.
Nothing surprising yet.
Then Claire noticed dates when no Caradonna inventory was officially scheduled there.
“What was moving on those days?”
Shipping manifests listed “private decorative assets.”
The insurer requested supporting documentation.
Diane’s attorney delayed.
The delay itself proved nothing.
But Preston reacted badly.
He approached Claire outside her office after work.
No violence.
No threat.
He asked her to stop helping Isabella.
Claire told Rachel immediately.
“What did he offer?” Isabella asked.
“Nothing.”
“That sounds worse.”
“It was.”
Claire repeated Preston’s words.
“If you keep opening old boxes, you’re going to ruin people who never touched Sophie.”
That changed Isabella’s focus.
Preston was no longer protecting only himself.
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There were other people tied to whatever had moved through Diane’s warehouse.
And for the first time, Isabella worried that the scheme might extend beyond her own family.
