Chapter 8
Jackson had two choices.
The easy choice was containment.
His corporate attorneys could tell the lenders the allegation was malicious.
The ledger had not been disclosed publicly.
The cash could be returned to Bellandi Social Holdings.
The family could describe everything as an internal dispute.
Chad could be suspended quietly.
The refinancing might survive without opening broader family records.
Claire offered the other option.
“Full independent disclosure.”
Jackson looked at her.
“How full?”
“Game-room evidence. Social Holdings cash records. Family-office delegated credentials. Historical private-game activity. Related-party transactions. Security logs.”
“All of it?”
“All relevant records.”
“What if they find actual problems?”
“They will.”
He looked at her.
Claire continued.
“Your family has held cash poker nights for years.”
“Social games.”
“Sometimes.”
Jackson said nothing.
“You have old undocumented reimbursements.”
“Yes.”
“Related-party loans.”
“Yes.”
“Cash-heavy clubs.”
“Yes.”
“Family members with access privileges nobody would approve today.”
“Yes.”
Claire folded her hands.
“If you want the lenders to believe somebody planted evidence to make you look dirty, you have to let them see how dirty the real room already was.”
Jackson disliked the sentence.
Because it was accurate.
His father had taught him that outsiders saw only what the family permitted.
Jackson had carried less of that philosophy than older Bellandis.
But he had carried enough.
If he opened the records, the lenders might delay or cancel the deal anyway.
Tax counsel might identify reporting problems.
Regulators could ask questions.
His own authority could be reduced during review.
Family members could lose jobs.
Jackson personally could lose millions.
He looked through the office glass toward the garden.
Leo was outside with his nanny.
Barefoot again.
That was good.
He had refused to walk barefoot for two days after the glass shattered.
Now he was chasing a ball.
Jackson thought about the emergency button.
A system supposedly designed to protect his son had been compromised because too many powerful relatives had informal access.
The financial system was built the same way.
Jackson signed the disclosure authorization.
Claire watched him.
“No limitations?”
“Legal privilege where appropriate.”
“Of course.”
“Everything else.”
She nodded.
Jackson added one more instruction.
“I temporarily step back from approval of any transaction connected to Social Holdings until the review ends.”
That surprised her.
“You don’t have to.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the fake ledger has my initials.”
He looked at the documents.
“If I want people to believe the process, I can’t control the result.”
The decision became effectively irreversible that afternoon.
Outside forensic accountants received the data.
Lender compliance counsel received the evidence-preservation notice.
Jackson’s independent board committee took temporary control of related-party approvals.
By dinner, the family knew.
Vincent called him a traitor.
Angelo said Jackson had panicked.
Three senior relatives threatened to resign.
Jackson let them.
Chad’s attorney issued a statement accusing Jackson of using his cousin as a scapegoat to protect “financial irregularities of his own making.”
That stung.
Because there were irregularities.
May you like
The audit would determine whose they were.
For the first time in Bellandi history, Jackson had voluntarily created a process he could not shut down simply because it embarrassed the family.
