Vanessa stepped forward, insisting Adam managed my finances. Her father, Graham, called me incapable of handling my own assets. I remained calm. Six weeks earlier, my accountant had uncovered $74,600 in suspicious payments to Price Premier Events, Graham and Celeste’s company. The invoices carried forged authorizations, and I had already hired a lawyer and forensic accountant. I examined the document Adam presented and recognized my signature copied from an eleven-year-old insurance form. Worse, its date was March 18, when I had been traveling in Switzerland. Adam insisted I was confused, but the evidence told another story.

I asked the manager, Sofia, to contact Anthony Romano, the company’s managing director. When he arrived, he greeted me respectfully and asked what had happened. I explained the attempted charge and requested that the records be preserved. Anthony then revealed the truth that left everyone speechless: my holding company owned 61 percent of Bellavita Hospitality Group’s voting shares. I was not merely a restaurant member. I was the majority shareholder. Adam stared at me, unable to speak. Vanessa’s smile disappeared, and Graham suddenly wanted to settle everything privately. I instructed management to block the unauthorized payment, suspend the vendor’s privileges pending investigation, and forward the evidence to my attorney.